The difficult management of migratory flows seems to have become a problem more for the Northern European states than for the Mediterranean ones. Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are trying to implement emergency measures to better control the phenomenon and satisfy an increasingly worried citizenry whose votes are moving ever more to the right. And so Berlin closes the borders, London wants to copy the Italian model of Giorgia Meloni and Amsterdam would even like to ask for an exemption from compliance with European rules on migration.
The Dutch opt-out
According to rumors published in the local press, the Dutch government could present to Brussels, perhaps as early as next week, an opt-out request to be exempted from the EU asylum policy. The minister responsible, Marjolein Faber, a member of Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom, has announced her intention to declare a national state of crisis in the field of immigration, implementing a crackdown that could also include a temporary halt to the examination of asylum applications. The plan is expected to be formally announced by Prime Minister Dick Schoof, who will present the details of the government agenda today (Friday, September 13).
The move is creating controversy in the national Parliament, as it should come through a decree, thus bypassing the deputies. And it could also lead to a clash with the European Union, given that the treaties do not provide for a country to obtain an exemption from a certain policy, in this case that of Asylum.
The opt-outs are exemptions that were negotiated by the United Kingdom and Denmark when they joined, and that were included in the Maastricht Treaty, which is a sort of EU constitution. But it has never happened that a member country asked for or negotiated them when already inside the bloc, which is theoretically possible but that would require a change in the treaties, which can only be done with unanimity in the European Council, which makes it a rather unlikely possibility.
Germany closes borders
For its part, Germany continues on its line of closing borders and yesterday formally notified Brussels of its intention to introduce border controls “on the basis of Article 25a (4)” of the Schengen Code “on foreseeable threats”. The article provides that “where there is a serious threat to public policy or the internal security of a Member State, the latter may exceptionally reintroduce border controls at all internal borders or specific parts thereof for a limited period of up to 30 days or for the foreseeable duration of the serious threat, if this exceeds 30 days”. In fact, with this justification, the controls could remain for a long time, which has infuriated some European partners, Hungary and Greece in the lead.
The controversies
“Germany is destroying Schengen, first by not obliging EU member states to effectively protect external borders, and now by introducing internal border controls,” thundered Budapest Interior Minister Gergely Gulyás. Criticism also came from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who said Berlin’s move risks causing a “domino effect” that would lead to similar border control measures being introduced in other member states.
“Germany has adopted an extremely tolerant and, I would say, socially generous policy towards migrants, which is now causing a strong social backlash,” Mitsotakis said in an interview with a Greek radio station. And now “the answer cannot be to unilaterally dismantle Schengen and leave the ball to the countries that are on the external borders of Europe,” Mitsotakis said.
Starmer meets Meloni
And the third hot front regarding irregular migrants is the Channel. This weekend, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will fly to Italy to meet Meloni. Among the issues under discussion will also be the management of migratory flows. The United Kingdom has already signed a £490 million agreement with France to pay police officers and border forces in Paris to increase their efforts to stop boats trying to cross the Channel, similar to what we have done as Italy and Europe with Tunisia and Libya.
However, Labour’s Starmer has scrapped the previous Conservative government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, a plan similar to, although with completely different distances, that agreed between Italy and Albania, and he may want to take a leaf out of Meloni’s book on the strategy adopted by our country. Irregular entries are a hot topic in the nation. So far, around 22,000 people have crossed the Channel in 2024, a higher number than in the same period last year, but lower than in 2022. In all, more than 135,000 people have arrived in the UK via this route since 2018.
