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Fortress Europe The Construction Fortress Europe: To what extent does ‘Fortress Europe’ accurately represent the European immigration and border regime developing since 1970? Jonathan Steven Mummery University of Amsterdam Thesis Supervisor: Darshan Vigneswaran Second Reader: Polly Palmister Wilkins Completed June 2016 as part of MSc Political Science: International Relations Research Project: Controlling Movement and Settlement: Who Belongs Where? 1 Contents: Abbreviations 3 Abstract 4 Introduction 5 Chapter 1: Literature Review & Methods 9 Chapter 2: Early Developments in the European Immigration Regime 1945-74 17 Chapter 3: The European Immigration Regime through the 1980s and 1990s 29 Chapter 4: ‘Fortress Europe’ and the European Immigration Regime Post 1997 47 Conclusion: 61 Bibliography: 63 2 Abbreviations: CEAS: Common European Asylum System EAEC: European Atomic Energy Community ECSC: European Coal and Steel Community EC: European Community EEC: European Economic Community EU: European Union EU15: European Union of 15 member states (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom plus Austria, Finland, Sweden) ENP: European Neighbourhood Policy EPC: European Political Cooperation JHA: Justice & Home Affairs Pillar created in the Maastricht Treaty SEA: Single European Act SIS: Schengen Information System UAV: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle 3 Abstract: Immigration is one of the most prominent items on the political agenda across the European Union and beyond. Questions of the immigration and border regime of the European Union have once more come to the fore in recent years following the onset of the Mediterranean refugee crisis. Throughout the development of European immigration, border and asylum policy, ‘fortress Europe’ has been used as a metaphor for both the description of individual stages in the development and the overall trajectory of the advancement. With the European Union now experiencing a refugee crisis at its southern borders, it is becoming increasingly important to accurately analyse how Europe reached this point. This thesis, through the construction of a narrative of the development of the European immigration, border and asylum regime, will explore to what extent ‘fortress Europe’ is a useful metaphor for describing and analysing past and ongoing developments. The thesis will draw on existing literature from across academic, journalistic and official sources in order to assess the applicability of ‘fortress Europe’. Ultimately, the thesis will conclude by stressing the utility of ‘fortress Europe’ possesses as a descriptor of a series of policy measures, platforms and proposals which have been developing since the mid 1970s and have now come together with the moves towards a common European immigration regime. 4 Introduction ‘Fortress Europe’ has been used as a metaphor to describe a number of developments within the field of European asylum, border and immigration policy across four decades. Over the course of the past few years there has been a renewed intensive focus on the border and immigration regime of the European Union. The events occurring as a result of turmoil in the Middle East have resulted in a substantial increase in the amount of migrants attempting the perilous journey to the southern reaches of the EU. The sheer number of people attempting the journey have made it incredibly difficult to distinguish between genuine refugees and asylum seekers and those attempting to enter the EU illegally. “Europe is facing its second existential crisis in the space of five years. No sooner had European leaders patched together a solution to the Eurozone crisis, than divisions over how to respond to the surge of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe threatened once again to tear the EU apart” (Hampshire, J, 2015: 8). The scale of the crisis is indicated in yearly increase from 2014 to 2015, with 2014 itself marking an all time high for the amount of people crossing the external borders illegally, “In 2015, Member States reported more than 1 820 000 detections of illegal border crossings along the external borders. This never before seen figure was more than six times the number of detections reported in 2014, which was itself an unprecedented year, with record monthly averages observed since April 2014” (Frontex, 2016: 6). With diverging perspectives on whether to or how many refugees to accept existing, the response to the crossing of the external borders of these migrants and the future of the Schengen zone had caused significant divisions between Member states. “Europe’s refugee crisis initially drove EU member states apart. Confronted in mid-2015 with a mass inflow of asylum seekers that threatened internal political stability, member states returned to the logic of narrow national self-interest” (Lehne, 2016). In a number of cases, this self-interest included the closing of border crossings, the reinstatement of border controls and even the construction of fences along broad stretches of the border. Thus many have accused the EU of reaching a new restrictive consensus with many prepared to construct a ‘fortress’ in order to prevent these flows from reaching the heart of the EU. 5 “Developments since late 2015 have shown, however, that shared fear might once again facilitate a return to a collective approach, albeit on the basis of a much more restrictive policy” (Lehne, 2016). The renewed focus of Europe’s borders has occurred in a time when border controls, fences and patrols are being stepped up indicating a hardening of the external borders and a highly restrictive form of collective action perhaps representing ‘fortress Europe’ once more in the making. However, these arguments are far from new. The appeal of the term is evident from its usage across a number of areas over a long timespan within both academic and journalistic literature. The term has enjoyed usage as both a descriptor of current aspects of border and immigration policy as well as a predictor of the future trajectory of policy, with many authors claiming measures taken by European governments represent stages in the construction of ‘fortress Europe’. The continued resurfacing of the term in the field of immigration through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s poses the question of how suitable the term is for describing the dynamics of the European border and immigration regime. Questions can be raised as to just what constitutes ‘fortress Europe’ following the varied applications in the past. This thesis will present a narrative of the development of the European immigration regime that has been developing since the 1970s to the present day. based on content analysis and process tracing in order to trace the development of the European border, immigration and asylum regime in order to provide a succinct conceptual definition of ‘fortress Europe’. Through analysis of the key stages in the development of the regime, the series of policy measures and proposals dating back to the 1970s which can be said to constitute ‘fortress Europe’ can be identified. The restrictive practices which have occurred throughout the development look set to continue into the future through further advancement in the European border and immigration regime. Thus, it is important to clarify the term so that ‘fortress Europe’ can be used as a meaningful term of analysis in the coming years. 6 Rationale and Roadmap What is Fortress Europe: The term “fortress Europe” has been used extensively across both academic literature and advocacy literature. “Fortress Europe” has thus seen usage both as a rhetorical tool for the critique of the developing European immigration and border regime and as a descriptive metaphor for a series of policy platforms and proposals dating back to the 1970s, possessing a restrictive element which have come together in recent years and are now collectively termed as “fortress Europe”. “Fortress Europe” in many instances has been employed as a means to critique and draw attention to an overly restrictive immigration, border and asylum policy which has come to exist in Europe. It is important to separate these uses of “fortress Europe” from those which aim to use “fortress Europe” as a means of analysing the series of policy proposals and platforms developing since. Within much of the advocacy literature, “fortress Europe” has been used as a rhetorical device in order to draw attention to the restrictive practices occurring at the European level within the field of borders, immigration and asylum without the balance of investigating the wider field of European border and immigration policy. While “fortress Europe” is a metaphor, as will be shown through the thesis by indicating how Europe does not represent a physical fortress, the use of the metaphor in this manner is appropriate for analysing a number of policy streams which have now come together, with restriction as a core element. Thus while it is important to be aware of the metaphorical nature of the term, it cannot be disregarded as a descriptor possessing analytical utility. Descriptive tool Throughout the development towards a common European approach to immigration and asylum a number of key areas of policy proposals and platforms can be said to represent “fortress Europe” now that a common approach can be determined. Given that “fortress Europe” has been used as a response to a number of areas including migration policy, border management and asylum procedures, it is appropriate that such areas of policy must 7 be included
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