Image: Claus Tom Christensen, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Same old story
Demands for the European Commission to fund border walls are nothing new.
In October 2021, 12 member states wrote to the European Commission stating: “Physical barriers appear to be an effective border protection measure that serves the interest of the whole EU, not just member states of first arrival… This legitimate measure should be additionally and adequately funded from the EU budget as a matter of priority.”
This was followed in February this year by European Council conclusions that, more ambiguously, called on the Commission “to fund measures by Member States that directly contribute to the control of the EU external borders, such as the border management pilot projects, as well as to the enhancement of the border control in key countries on transit routes to the European Union.”
Of course, the member states do not seem to have any problem in building border walls: “in the last eight years member states have built more than 1,700 kilometers of walls to protect themselves not against tanks or soldiers, but against migrants and refugees.”
At the same time, as highlighted in a 2019 report by the Transnational Institute, “the Commission is willing to pay for anything that fortifies a border” – cameras, sensors, vehicles, buildings, and so on – “as long as it is not seen to be building the walls themselves.”
“Build the wall(s)”
This is still not enough for some states, with eight of them – Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – renewing the demand.
In a joint statement (pdf) that, until now, has remained secret, the members of the Ministerial Forum for Member States of the Schengen area with external land borders:
“…agree that physical infrastructure as [sic] an effective means of protection supporting the activities of border services, especially in the situation of instrumentalisation of migration. Therefore we encourage EU to look for a solution to finance physical infrastructure (including physical barriers) from EU Funds.” (emphasis added)
Amongst other things, the statement also calls for “common minimum standards for external border surveillance” and says that “the European External Action Service and Frontex should enhance cooperation with third countries of origin and transit to facilitate returns and the 20 operational measures EU Action Plan on the Western Balkans should be implemented without delay.”
Documentation
- Ministerial Forum for Member States of the Schengen area with external land borders − Joint statement (Council doc. 9939/23, LIMITE, 30 May 2023, pdf)
