Authors
Réka Friedery
PHD, RESEARCH FELLOW, INSTITUTE FOR LEGAL STUDIES, CENTRE FOR SOCIAL SCIENCES,
HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE, FRIEDERY.REKA@TK.HU
ORCID: 0000-0002-1902-5772
- Volume 5 Issue (1) 2021
21-30
Since February 2020, a number of EU Member States and Schengen associated countries have declared emergencies and introduced epidemiological measures. These included restrictions on freedom of movement: border closures, temporary internal border controls or temporary bans on all non-essential travel. The author argues that since the Member States had recently used border restrictions to restrict the (visible) migration, border restriction as means fighting the (invisible) pandemic is only another precedent on behalf of Member States’ unwillingness to preserve freedom of movement when it contradicts internal policies, and underlines the need for Schengen’s reform. The article argues that although justifying derogations from the principles of border-free area is in the hand of the Member States, the lack of coordination has created the exact the same situation as during the migration crisis. Though the reintroduced border restrictions of 2015 targeted irregular migrants, the present ones affected EU citizens, too. The research aims to analyze the means and margins that the situation created by the pandemic contrasts to the restrictive border measures introduced during the migration crisis. The final research objective is to emphasize the need for cooperation in this policy field and the need of an integrated approach.
Books
Guild E. et al. 2015. What is happening to the Schengen borders? CEPS Paper in Liberty and Security in Europe. No. 86, 1. https://www.ceps.eu/download/publication/?id=9209&pdf=No%2086%20Schengenland_0.pd
Guild E. et al. 2016. Internal border controls in the Schengen area: is Schengen crisis-proof?. Directorate General for Internal Policies Policy Department C. Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs PE 571 356, 23.https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/ 2016/571356/IPOL_STU%282016%29571356_EN.pdf
Article in a print or online journal
Dobbs M. 2020. National Governance of Public Health Responses in a Pandemic?, European Journal of Risk Regulation, Vol. 11, No. 2: 240-248.
Carrera S. et al. 2018. The Future of the Schengen Area: Latest Developments and Challenges in the Schengen Governance Framework since 2016, Study for the European Parliament (DG IPOL), PE 604.943, European Parliament, Brussels https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/ 604943/IPOL_STU(2018)604943_EN.pdf
Casaglia A., Laine J. P. 2017. Towards a re-articulation of the relationship between state, territory, and identity through a situated understanding of borders: conclusion. Europa Regional, Vol. 24, No. 1/2: 93-96. https://nbnresolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-54454-3 https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/54454/ssoar-europareg-2017-1/2-casaglia_et_al-Towards_a_re- articulation_of_the.pdf?sequence=1
Kenwick R. M. et al. 2020. “Pandemic Response as Border Politics”, International Organization, Vol. 74, No. 2. https://www.cambridge. org/core/ journals/international-organization/article/pandemic-response-as-border-politics/0A9FC8629BF379D0CFFADD0661547DA3/ core-reader
Kukathas C. 2012. Why Open Borders. Ethical Perspectives, Vol: 19, No. 4: 650–675. https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article =4177&context=soss_research
Mantu S. 2013. Concepts of time and European citizenship. European Journal of Migration and Law, 2013/4, 454. Heinonline
Meisels T. 2009. Territorial Rights. Vol. 72. Dordrecht: Springer Science & Business Media.
Nine C. 2012. Global Justice and Territory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pacces M. A. et al. 2020. A European Approach to COVID-19, European Journal of Risk Regulation, Vol. 11, No. 2: 283-296.
Omotomilola I. et al. 2021. Sustainability of Borders in a Post-COVID-19 World, Politikon, Vol. 48, No. 2: 297-311, DOI: 10.1080 /02589346. 2021.1913 804. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02589346. 2021.1913804
Opiłowska E. 2021. The Covid-19 crisis: the end of a borderless Europe?, European Societies, 23:sup1, S589 S600, DOI: 10. 1080/ 14616696.2020.1833065 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/ 14616696.2020.1833065?src=recsys
Radil Steven M. et al. 2021. Borders resurgent: towards a post-Covid-19 global border regime?, Space and Polity, Vol. 25, No. 1: 132-140, DOI: 10.1080/13562576.2020.1773254. https://www.tandfonline.com/ doi/full/10.1080/13562576.2020.1773254?src=recsys
Sabbati G., Dumbrava C. 2020. ‘The impact of coronavirus on Schengen borders’, EPRS Briefing, PE 649. 347, Brussels, European Parliamentary Research Service, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/ en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2020) 649347
Samers M. 2003. “Immigration and the Spectre of Hobbes: Some Comments for the Quixotic Dr Bauder.” ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, Vol. 2, No. 2: 210-217. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237246243_Immigration_and_the_Spectre_of_H obbes_Some_Comments_ for_the_Quixotic_Dr_Bauder_1
van der Woude M. 2020. ‘A Patchwork of Intra-Schengen Policing: Border Games over National Identity and National Sovereignty’, Theoretical Criminology, Vol. 24, No. 1: 121-122. https://journals.sagepub.com/ doi/pdf/10.1177/1362480619871615
Case law
C-33/07 Jipa v Ministerul Administratiei si Internelor, Directia Generala de Pasapoarte Bucuresti
See C-304/14 Secretary of State for the Home Department v CS
C-482/01 Orfanopoulos and Others v Land Baden-Württenberg
Case C-140/12 Pensionsversicherungsanstalt v Peter Brey
Case C-41/74 van Duyn
Case 30/77 Bouchereau,
Case-482/01 and C-493/01 Orfanopoulos and Oliveri
Case-441/02 Commission v Germany
Case-50/06 Commission v Netherlands
EU law
Consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union OJ C 326, 26.10.2012,
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A12012E%2FTXT
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union OJ C 326, 26.10.2012,
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT&from=EN
European Commission 2020a, COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Short-term EU health preparedness for COVID-19 outbreaks
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication_-_short-term_eu_health_preparedness.pdf
European Commission 2020b, Guidelines concerning the exercise of the free movement of workers during COVID-19 outbreak (2020/C 102 I/03) C/2020/2051, OJ C 102I , 30.3.2020, p. 12–14
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020XC0330%2803%29
European Commission 2020c, COVID-19 Guidelines for border management measures to protect health and ensure the availability of goods and essential services (2020/C 86 I/01) OJ C 86I, 16.3.2020, p. 1–4, https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/default/files/ what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/20200316_covid-19-guidelines-for-border-management.pdf
European Commission 2020d. COVID-19 Guidelines for border management measures to protect health and ensure the availability of goods and essential services (2020/C 86 I/01)
European Commission 2020e. Guidelines on seasonal workers in the EU in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak (2020/C 235 I/01).
Joint European Roadmap towards lifting COVID-19 containment measures
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication_-_a_european_roadmap_to_lifting_coronavirus_containment_measures_0.pdf
European Commission 2020f. Draft Council Recommendation on a coordinated approach to the restriction of free movement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-11689-2020-REV-1/en/pdf
Decision No 1082/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 on serious cross-border threats to health.
Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) (codification) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02016R0399-20190611
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Directive 2003/86/EC on the right to family reunification COM/2019/162 final
Member States’ notifications of the temporary reintroduction of border control at internal borders pursuant to Article 25 and 28 et seq. of the Schengen Borders Code
https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/system/files/2021-09/Full%20list%20of%20notifications% 20of%20the% 20temporary%20reintroduction%20of%20border%20control%20at%20internal%20borders%20September%202021.pdf
European Council, 2020a, Council Recommendation (EU) 2020/1475 of 13 October 2020 on a coordinated approach to the restriction of free movement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic OJ L 337, 14.10.2020, p. 3–9, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32020H1475
Council of the European Union, 2020b. Temporary reintroduction of border controls at the Hungarian internal borders with Slovenia and Austria in accordance with Article 28 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) Brussels, 13 March 2020
https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-6788-2020-INIT/en/pdf
National Law
Hungary, Governmental Decree no. 81/2020 on extraordinary measures relating to the state of danger declared for the protection of health and lives and for the restoration of national economy (81/2020. (IV. 1.) Korm. rendelet az egészség és élet megóvása, valamint a nemzetgazdaság helyreállítása érdekében elrendelt veszélyhelyzettel kapcsolatos rendkívüli intézkedésekről), 1 April 2020, Section 2, available at: https://njt.hu/translated/doc/J2020R0081K_20200514_FIN.pdf.
Other
WHO – World Health Organization https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
Online document register of the EU Council https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents-publications/ public-register/
Books
Guild E. et al. 2015. What is happening to the Schengen borders? CEPS Paper in Liberty and Security in Europe. No. 86, 1. https://www.ceps.eu/download/publication/?id=9209&pdf=No%2086%20Schengenland_0.pd
Guild E. et al. 2016. Internal border controls in the Schengen area: is Schengen crisis-proof?. Directorate General for Internal Policies Policy Department C. Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs PE 571 356, 23.https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/ 2016/571356/IPOL_STU%282016%29571356_EN.pdf
Article in a print or online journal
Dobbs M. 2020. National Governance of Public Health Responses in a Pandemic?, European Journal of Risk Regulation, Vol. 11, No. 2: 240-248.
Carrera S. et al. 2018. The Future of the Schengen Area: Latest Developments and Challenges in the Schengen Governance Framework since 2016, Study for the European Parliament (DG IPOL), PE 604.943, European Parliament, Brussels https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/ 604943/IPOL_STU(2018)604943_EN.pdf
Casaglia A., Laine J. P. 2017. Towards a re-articulation of the relationship between state, territory, and identity through a situated understanding of borders: conclusion. Europa Regional, Vol. 24, No. 1/2: 93-96. https://nbnresolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-54454-3 https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/54454/ssoar-europareg-2017-1/2-casaglia_et_al-Towards_a_re- articulation_of_the.pdf?sequence=1
Kenwick R. M. et al. 2020. “Pandemic Response as Border Politics”, International Organization, Vol. 74, No. 2. https://www.cambridge. org/core/ journals/international-organization/article/pandemic-response-as-border-politics/0A9FC8629BF379D0CFFADD0661547DA3/ core-reader
Kukathas C. 2012. Why Open Borders. Ethical Perspectives, Vol: 19, No. 4: 650–675. https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article =4177&context=soss_research
Mantu S. 2013. Concepts of time and European citizenship. European Journal of Migration and Law, 2013/4, 454. Heinonline
Meisels T. 2009. Territorial Rights. Vol. 72. Dordrecht: Springer Science & Business Media.
Nine C. 2012. Global Justice and Territory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pacces M. A. et al. 2020. A European Approach to COVID-19, European Journal of Risk Regulation, Vol. 11, No. 2: 283-296.
Omotomilola I. et al. 2021. Sustainability of Borders in a Post-COVID-19 World, Politikon, Vol. 48, No. 2: 297-311, DOI: 10.1080 /02589346. 2021.1913 804. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02589346. 2021.1913804
Opiłowska E. 2021. The Covid-19 crisis: the end of a borderless Europe?, European Societies, 23:sup1, S589 S600, DOI: 10. 1080/ 14616696.2020.1833065 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/ 14616696.2020.1833065?src=recsys
Radil Steven M. et al. 2021. Borders resurgent: towards a post-Covid-19 global border regime?, Space and Polity, Vol. 25, No. 1: 132-140, DOI: 10.1080/13562576.2020.1773254. https://www.tandfonline.com/ doi/full/10.1080/13562576.2020.1773254?src=recsys
Sabbati G., Dumbrava C. 2020. ‘The impact of coronavirus on Schengen borders’, EPRS Briefing, PE 649. 347, Brussels, European Parliamentary Research Service, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/ en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2020) 649347
Samers M. 2003. “Immigration and the Spectre of Hobbes: Some Comments for the Quixotic Dr Bauder.” ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, Vol. 2, No. 2: 210-217. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237246243_Immigration_and_the_Spectre_of_H obbes_Some_Comments_ for_the_Quixotic_Dr_Bauder_1
van der Woude M. 2020. ‘A Patchwork of Intra-Schengen Policing: Border Games over National Identity and National Sovereignty’, Theoretical Criminology, Vol. 24, No. 1: 121-122. https://journals.sagepub.com/ doi/pdf/10.1177/1362480619871615
Case law
C-33/07 Jipa v Ministerul Administratiei si Internelor, Directia Generala de Pasapoarte Bucuresti
See C-304/14 Secretary of State for the Home Department v CS
C-482/01 Orfanopoulos and Others v Land Baden-Württenberg
Case C-140/12 Pensionsversicherungsanstalt v Peter Brey
Case C-41/74 van Duyn
Case 30/77 Bouchereau,
Case-482/01 and C-493/01 Orfanopoulos and Oliveri
Case-441/02 Commission v Germany
Case-50/06 Commission v Netherlands
EU law
Consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union OJ C 326, 26.10.2012,
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A12012E%2FTXT
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union OJ C 326, 26.10.2012,
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT&from=EN
European Commission 2020a, COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Short-term EU health preparedness for COVID-19 outbreaks
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication_-_short-term_eu_health_preparedness.pdf
European Commission 2020b, Guidelines concerning the exercise of the free movement of workers during COVID-19 outbreak (2020/C 102 I/03) C/2020/2051, OJ C 102I , 30.3.2020, p. 12–14
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020XC0330%2803%29
European Commission 2020c, COVID-19 Guidelines for border management measures to protect health and ensure the availability of goods and essential services (2020/C 86 I/01) OJ C 86I, 16.3.2020, p. 1–4, https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/default/files/ what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/20200316_covid-19-guidelines-for-border-management.pdf
European Commission 2020d. COVID-19 Guidelines for border management measures to protect health and ensure the availability of goods and essential services (2020/C 86 I/01)
European Commission 2020e. Guidelines on seasonal workers in the EU in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak (2020/C 235 I/01).
Joint European Roadmap towards lifting COVID-19 containment measures
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication_-_a_european_roadmap_to_lifting_coronavirus_containment_measures_0.pdf
European Commission 2020f. Draft Council Recommendation on a coordinated approach to the restriction of free movement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-11689-2020-REV-1/en/pdf
Decision No 1082/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 on serious cross-border threats to health.
Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) (codification) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02016R0399-20190611
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Directive 2003/86/EC on the right to family reunification COM/2019/162 final
Member States’ notifications of the temporary reintroduction of border control at internal borders pursuant to Article 25 and 28 et seq. of the Schengen Borders Code
https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/system/files/2021-09/Full%20list%20of%20notifications% 20of%20the% 20temporary%20reintroduction%20of%20border%20control%20at%20internal%20borders%20September%202021.pdf
European Council, 2020a, Council Recommendation (EU) 2020/1475 of 13 October 2020 on a coordinated approach to the restriction of free movement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic OJ L 337, 14.10.2020, p. 3–9, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32020H1475
Council of the European Union, 2020b. Temporary reintroduction of border controls at the Hungarian internal borders with Slovenia and Austria in accordance with Article 28 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) Brussels, 13 March 2020
https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-6788-2020-INIT/en/pdf
National Law
Hungary, Governmental Decree no. 81/2020 on extraordinary measures relating to the state of danger declared for the protection of health and lives and for the restoration of national economy (81/2020. (IV. 1.) Korm. rendelet az egészség és élet megóvása, valamint a nemzetgazdaság helyreállítása érdekében elrendelt veszélyhelyzettel kapcsolatos rendkívüli intézkedésekről), 1 April 2020, Section 2, available at: https://njt.hu/translated/doc/J2020R0081K_20200514_FIN.pdf.
Other
WHO – World Health Organization https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
Online document register of the EU Council https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents-publications/ public-register/