Schengen in the Netherlands [1992]
01 January 1991
Schengen in the Netherlands [1992]
artdoc February=1992
This article was written for Burgerrechte & Polizei (CILIP),
September 1991
When it comes to European cooperation, consecutive Dutch
governments have always been rather eager to play a vanguard
role. This probably can be explained by the traditional necessity
for a small, trade-oriented country to maintain the best possible
contacts with mightier and economically significant neighbour
countries. Also, the Netherlands have been pioneering
international cooperation with Belgium and Luxembourg since the
late 1950s.
Back in 1985, when the first Schengen agreement was concluded,
nobody really seemed to care very much for the consequences. It
was only in 1988 that the first critical comments began to appear
in law journals.
At the moment, parliamentary opposition is limited to the Green
Left party and the social democrats. The latter, being
responsible for Schengen in the present government, are not
expected to put up more than a token resistance. MP Maarten van
Traa claims to be lobbying among European social democrats to
amend Schengen, but it is fairly clear that his efforts will be
in vain.
As an indirect consequence of Schengen, the government announced
that a mandatory identification system for every citizen would
become unavoidable. With the lifting of border checks, the
controlling of illegal aliens will have to be transferred to the
cities, the streets and the coffee houses. To avoid
discrimination, not only black people but all persons will have
to produce an ID upon request by a police officer. Although there
is still a fair amount of opposition to this (with the "Ausweis"
connotations from the second world war is still vivid), the
argument that it also would be an effective deterrent against
frauds and other crimes seems convincing to the general public.
Another reason for the rather weak opposition against Schengen
is that the fear among the public for growing numbers of
immigrants is strong. The idea has settled that the only way to
avoid mass immigration is to cooperate in a European framework,
with very strict controls on the outer borders and the airports.
Many seem to believe that this is the main focus of Schengen, and
consequently most of the opposing forces against Schengen can be
found in circles of refugee worker organizations and lawyers.
With the Schengen Information System (SIS) presumably finished
by mid- 1992 and the first parliamentary debate on the
ratification of Schengen expected in early 1992, the coming year
probably will bring extensive changes in the organization of
policing. And apart from Schengen, there are several other major
developments in progress.
In recent months there has been a sort of "corruption scare" in
the Dutch press. In September 1991 it was revealed that since
1989 the Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst (BVD - security service)
has been investigating police officers of Surinam origin for
possible connections with the Surinam drugs mafia. This summer,
several witnesses have declared that the Surinam military junta
is responsible for transporting and processing large quantities
of Colombian cocaine. Surinam military intelligence is suspected
of operating agent networks in Holland and other countries in
support of drug trafficking.
Dutch newspapers started their own investigations and had an easy
time finding sources that suggested certain black police officers
were on the pay role of Surinam intelligence. This caused black
officers in the force to express worries about distrust and
discrimination.
These publications on drugs infiltrations, together with a report
of a study group on organized crime that mentioned over a hundred
Dutch-based criminal organizations that successfully use bribing
to infiltrate both the government and corporations, have caused
something of a media panic about corruption. This could bring the
BVD some success i