Europe boosts border control

The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have reached an agreement about the establishment of a fully fledged European Border Guard. European Parliament member, Helga Stevens, who played a role for the ECR The N-VA is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), a conservative, eurorealistic parliamentary group in the European Parliament. The N-VA shares their realistic view of the European project and also advocates for the correct and intensive application of the subsidiarity principle. For example, we must not be afraid to ask ourselves if it would be better to leave certain European initiatives to the Member States. The N-VA also identifies with the emphases that the ECR places on the social-economic issues. Since the 2014 elections, the ECR has become the third largest parliamentary group in the European Parliament. ECR party in those negotiations, considers such a Border Guard to be an crucial element in limiting the influx of asylum seekers to Europe: “That’s why it’s important that this issue still be completed in short order. Europe has gradually come to understand that the door must first be shut before we can talk about further relocation of refugees.”

This European Border Guard is a reformed European agency, that was previously known as Frontex and whose original mandate has been strengthened. “It will function as a kind of supervisory authority, which will continuously assess the influx capacity of countries such as Greece and Italy, and monitor whether they are able to meet their obligations regarding registration and return,” Helga Stevens explains. “This way, the chance of future crises taking place is significantly lowered. Should a crisis situation still to take place, then Frontex is now equipped with sufficient own equipment and assigned manpower. If an EU Member State controls its borders insufficiently, this agency can take over surveillance and policing. If the member state in question refuses border control on its territory, other member states can close their borders for up to two years. This will increase the pressure on everyone to shoulder their responsibility.”

The job isn’t done yet

The further development of this Border Guard does not mean that the European asylum job is done yet, European Parliament member Sander Loones warns. “Europe set an anti-drowning pact in place with each of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, with an upper limit to the number of refugees to be given shelter. Within that framework, this Border Guard can then carry out a systematic push-back policy.”