Border control and checks: a symbolic measure
As part of its plans to introduce a stricter asylum policy, the Dutch cabinet wants to expand checks at internal borders within the EU. Professor of Law and Society Maartje van der Woude tells Dutch daily newspaper NRC that this is a symbolic measure: ‘Border checks will not counter the right to seek asylum.’
The Schengen Agreement concluded in the 1980s enabled the free movement of people, goods and services between European Union countries. This was not without criticism; after all, there would be much less oversight, which could affect national security. This sentiment has returned in 2024 as the government plans to introduce tighter border controls.
In an NRC article, Professor Van der Woude discussed the Schoof cabinet’s new, stricter asylum policy. She does not expect the European Commission to respond in a negative way to the renewed decision on border control in the Netherlands. In principle, an EU country is allowed to perform border checks for up to two years at a time. But will that solve the Dutch ‘asylum crisis’? She questions that: ‘Border controls will not counter people’s right to seek asylum.’ Professor Van der Woude therefore views this latest measure as primarily ‘symbolic’.
More information
Read the full NRC article here (€, in Dutch)
Listen to the Praatjesmakers radio clip here (in Dutch)
Photo: Alexandre Lallemand through Unsplash