18 April 2023
New Digital Gates for Fortress Europe?
On March 29th, the Permanent Representatives Committee approved the EU Council's negotiating mandate for a Regulatory proposal to digitalize the Visa procedure. Proponents argue that this move will improve security and reduce administrative costs for both EU Member States and interested travellers. However, I argue that the Draft Regulation raises many concerns about the effective protection of the fundamental rights of Schengen visa applicants. If adopted, it threatens to perpetuate the subordination of fundamental rights to security and efficiency concerns that characterizes the increasing digitalization and datafication of EU migration management operations. Continue reading >>
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23 Februar 2023
Das Ende von Schengen?
Anfang Januar gab es ein Jubiläum an der deutsch-dänischen Grenze: zum siebten Mal jährte sich die Wiedereinführung der Grenzkontrollen durch Dänemarks. In einem Gutachten im Auftrag von MEP Rasmus Andresen und der grünen Fraktion im EU-Parlament haben wir untersucht, ob Dänemark die Wiedereinführung und Aufrechterhaltung von Grenzkontrollen rechtfertigen kann. Auch Österreich, Frankreich, Deutschland, Norwegen und Schweden führten Grenzkontrollen seit 2016 wieder ein. Diese Staaten legen die Axt an die Freizügigkeit im EU-Binnenraum. Continue reading >>
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12 Oktober 2022
Evolution and Mutation in the EU’s DNA
In order to get rid of “classical” border controls between Member States, the EU Commission is trying to incentivise Schengen States to substitute them with so called “alternative measures”, for example the enforced use of police powers and monitoring and surveillance technologies. These technologies and their impacts confront us with the question what it means to move “freely” within an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers. Continue reading >>
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29 September 2022
The Visa Ban, Nikolai and his Russian Sister
The absence of an EU-level decision to bar perceived Russians ‘tourists’ from visiting the EU, however, did not prevent several Member States from adopting such measures at the national level, departing from EU law provisions currently in force. Contrary to the ‘tourist -only’ narrative, however, the new rules severely affect Russian family members of EU citizens and residents – an issue that, so far, has escaped public attention. Continue reading >>19 August 2022
Putinism is Contagious
As Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine continues, EU Member States are contemplating new sanctions, including Schengen visa bans for Russian citizens. The underlying rationale is the WWI ‘enemy alien’ logic, where all Russian civilians are enemy aliens, and must be treated with suspicion. This populist construction of an ‘enemy alien’ is antithetical to the EU’s constitutional core, which also informs its visa and migration law. The populist retributive logic, to us, is a stress-test of the rule of law in the EU. It’s good news that, outside Estonia and Latvia, it seems to be holding strong in other Member States. Continue reading >>
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17 August 2022
Why Banning Russian Tourists from Schengen Might not Be Unlawful
Recently, politicians in different EU countries have suggested barring Russian tourists from visiting the EU. Such a ban would be in retaliation for the war waged by Russia against Ukraine. From a legal perspective, these suggestions raise the interesting question whether such a blanket ban would be lawful. From a legal perspective, the question is precisely whether there is a possibility to amend the existing acquis, in order to ban Russians from obtaining short term visas for the purpose of visiting Europe as tourists. It seems hardly tenable to argue that the EU (secondary) legislature is somehow bound by the ratio legis of the current Schengen visa system. Continue reading >>17 August 2022
Heated tempers and legal ambiguities
After some heads of EU governments advocated for an all-out ban of Russian nationals’ Schengen visas, a heated academic and political debate arose over the question whether the EU could bar Russians from acquiring visas for a short-term stay in the Schengen area. Could a sweeping travel ban for Russian citizens be justified in the light of EU law? This blogpost advises caution. Continue reading >>
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16 August 2022
Why Restricting Tourist Visas to Russians is Legitimate
In the aftermath of Ukrainian President Zelenski’s call on the EU to introduce a ban on short-term ‘tourist’ visas for Russians wishing to travel the Schengen area, a lively debate on the issue erupted, featuring important interventions not last on this website. For instance, Sarah Ganty argues that an EU tourist visa ban would be ethically wrong and unlawful. However, there is no absolute right to travel through the EU. Continue reading >>12 August 2022
Why Banning Russians from Schengen Is Unlawful
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Prime Minister of Finland and others have been calling for an EU-wide ban of Russian citizens from Schengen visas. Unquestionably, the horrible crimes perpetrated by the Russian state should be punished. But Russians are citizens of a totalitarian state, they are not Putin. And whether we like it or not, there is no legal way under current EU law to adopt a blanket citizenship-based ban against Russians acquiring Schengen visas. Even more: political attention paid to it by persons in leadership positions is deeply surprising, if not irresponsible. Continue reading >>05 Mai 2022