Interior Minister Faeser has ordered federal border controls, raising concerns in the EU about the free movement of people and goods. Particularly clear words came from Austria and Poland.
To curb irregular migration, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser temporarily extended controls on all German borders on Monday. The federal government argues that Germany must control its borders as long as the EU cannot protect its external borders.
According to the Schengen border rules, controls are only allowed as an exception. They must be strictly limited in time and must be reported to the EU Commission. As Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper confirmed, this has already happened. Faeser has informed the EU about the controls.
“According to the Schengen border rules, member states can initiate such controls if there is a serious threat to public order or internal security,” explains Hipper. The Commission is in contact not only with the German authorities but also with other member states that control their internal borders.
Damage to the economy and border communities
The EU Commission is trying not to make the issue too big. They also do not want to comment on Berlin’s announcement that the German border controls will remain in place for much longer than the six months allowed.
But many people are very concerned about the free movement of people and goods in the Schengen area, says Dutch MEP Raquel García Hermida-Van der Walle. Of course, Germany’s initial reaction to the attack by an asylum seeker who was forced to leave Solingen but not deported was completely understandable: “But such political signals make neither Europe nor Germany safer.”
Instead, it would harm the economy and the thousands of people living in border communities. “One of our most important freedoms is at risk of sending a political message,” the MEP said. Instead, he proposed investing more in external border protection and police cooperation between EU member states.
Common German-Austrian patrol?
For example, in its report on alternatives to German border control, the EU Commission recommends that German and Austrian police patrol together and stop people before they cross the border into Germany. In this case, Austria would have to determine which country is responsible for the application.
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner made it clear that it was impossible for Austria to bring back those abandoned by Germany.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also issued a sharp criticism: Berlin’s actions are unacceptable. The Schengen Agreement is effectively suspended.
Will there be a domino effect?
In fact, border controls could force neighboring countries to follow Germany’s example. It’s a kind of domino effect, since few EU governments are willing to take in more refugees. Austrian Interior Minister Karner said many things are connected.
Likewise, many EU politicians believe that implementing the just-decided European asylum law reform is a top priority. “We must also reinvigorate the fast-track procedures at external borders and cooperation with third countries, which are at the heart of this agreement,” the Austrian emphasizes. We really need to make progress in preventing abuses.
Gaps in the fingerprint database
The EU Commission has made it clear that it is not generally illegal to refuse an asylum application from someone who is already registered in another EU country or could have applied for asylum in a safe third country. However, this requires a formal procedure and the consent of the Member State concerned. The country concerned has six months to carry out this procedure.
Also planned as part of the asylum reform is the Eurodac database, which records the fingerprints of all asylum seekers, but so far it has been incompletely functional: three-quarters of the 329,120 first-time applicants from Germany last year were not yet registered in another EU country.
