Could this be a first step ?
Dutch Ruling Party Wants a “Mini-Schengen Within Schengen” for Closing Borders to Migrants
November 26, 2020
Netherland’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the largest party in the country, wants to create a mini-Schengen withing the existing Schengen Area that consist of 26 countries.
The VVD wants this smaller Schengen to be able to close its borders to the other Schengen Zone countries, when the number of migrants passing through them to reach the Netherlands increases, in a bid of the ruling party to keep out migrants with no rights to asylum who see the country as a destination because of its prosperity.
The idea has been presented by Bente Becker, the party’s parliamentary spokeswoman on immigration and asylum, in an opinion piece in the AD newspaper.
According to Becker, while Greece and Italy are ‘overrun by boat migrants’, there is a great risk that in times of crisis the Netherlands will be chosen by many migrants as a destination because of its prosperity.
“A new European asylum system is needed, but strengthening the borders together has so far only succeeded in crisis situations,” Becker writes, asserting that the EU Commission’s recently presented new plan on migration is “not strict enough yet.”
Becker further outlines VVD’s idea for a national crisis plan for migration, which is the creation of a mini-Schengen, which would allow the Netherlands and its partners to close their new ‘external borders’ when necessary.
The VVD also wants the Netherlands to be able to close its national borders and impose border controls whenever the government sees it as necessary, while also suggesting adjustments and exceptions in international treaties and EU regulations if an improved European asylum system does not work.
“That is a more realistic answer to the migration problem than easy ‘nexit!’ as some do… We can work towards a stricter European asylum system and at the same time make a plan to better protect ourselves in times of crisis,” Becker asserts.
The reformation of the Schengen Area has been previously suggested by several EU leaders including the French President Emmanuel Macron, who after the terrorist attacks that took place in France called for the reorganization of the way Schengen works.
His calls have been supported by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who in a meeting of the European leaders highlighted the need to urgently reform the Schengen Area in the light of the recent terrorist attacks, adding the EU has long been working on this direction.
Bookmarks