The Bucharest University of Economic Studies

Faculty of International Business and Economics

The World on the Move

Bucharest

2019
“Critics say that lifting the border controls now could trigger another, even greater, migration
crisis by encouraging potentially millions of new migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East
to begin making their way to Europe. It would also allow jihadists to cross European borders
undetected to carry out attacks when and where they wish”.
Migration is the phenomenon of moving crowds of people from one territory to another. It is a
phenomenon as old as humanity. The modern age, but especially the contemporary one, has
witnessed a diversification of the migration phenomenon and a constant increase in the number of
migrants. The causes of migration can be of several types, mainly political and social economic.
Political causes include corruption, the lack of rights and freedom, the armed warfare and the
political regime. Social economic causes include precarious financial conditions, lack of jobs,
famine, drought and poverty. (Dumitrescu, 2019)

Within that, the causes of why individuals migrate may also be push and pull factors. Push factors
are those that force the individual to move voluntarily, and in many cases, they are forced because
the individual is put at risk if decides to stay. Pull factors are those factors in the destination
country that attract the individual or group to leave their home. Those factors are known as place
utility, which is the desirability of a place that attracts people. (Eschooltoday.com, 2017)

Since the Schengen Agreement took place in 1995, lifting the border controls in Europe became a
major subject of interest between countries, mainly because it can cause conflicts. In order to create
trust between Member States, but not only, it is important to enable passport-free movement across
them, however, this must be made under closed monitorization with the aim of avoiding conflicts.

The European Union has a major interest in managing migration and borders. Over the last 20
years, the European Union has established common standards on shelters in accordance with
international law. Over the past 3 years, the European Migration Agenda, proposed by the Juncker
Commission in May 2015, guided the progress of the European migration policy that was needed
to meet the important challenges faced.

The EU has begun to implement the change necessary to achieve a management and truly
integrated European external borders, along with the mobilization of border police and guards
coastline at European level, introducing controls systematically over all people who are passing
European borders and making available some improved and interoperable IT systems for the
exchange of real - time information between Member States.

There are opinions that reducing the number of arrivals is a prerequisite for registering progress
on other aspects of a common European migration policy, but in reality, statistics show that this
objective has been largely achieved. In fact, figures have returned to and even fell below the level
of previous years crisis.

In order to avoid illegal migration and to respond to the challenge posed by the 2015 refugee crisis,
the EU mobilized unprecedented financial and operational means to support all Member States
faced with strong migration pressures. The EU institutions have used all the flexibility within the
EU budget to mobilize additional funds. The Shelter, Migration and Integration Fund was more
than just doubled, the amounts allocated to decentralized agencies increased by 86%, and
emergency assistance has increased by almost 500%. Hotspots have been created to ensure that all
people that arrive are properly recorded and are the subject of fingerprinting and the EU agencies
have also been strengthened by allocating additional resources. In order to help refugees where
they are and to reduce the factors that encourage irregular migration, the EU has implemented
innovative financing solutions such as fiduciary funds aimed at attracting funding beyond the
budget line.

The relocation mitigated part of the pressure on the EU Member States at the external border and
offered a safe and legal way for people in need of international protection. Since 2015, two
successful EU resettlement programs have helped over 32 000 people among the most vulnerable
to find shelter in the EU. Member States have taken the most collective resettlement commitment
in the history of the EU by adopting the new EU-wide mechanism proposed by President Juncker
in September 2017, which provides for the resettlement of 50 000 people.

More and more needs to be done with North African countries, such as Morocco and Tunisia, to
help stop the illegal migration at source, including by completing the EU Emergency Trust Fund
for Africa - a funding shortfall of € 1.2 billion - and especially the North Africa component, for
which the EU will have to mobilize other millions of euros. (Ec.europa.eu, 2018)

When it comes to accepting migrants, another important fact has to be taken into consideration,
naming their integration into society. With the increase of immigrants in 2015, the EU's response
to the migration crisis must also focus on promoting integration. While this is the responsibility
of national governments, the EU can play a supporting role.

Programs such as the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Regional Development Fund
provide financial support to Member States in their efforts to integrate immigrants. Members of
the European Parliament adopted several resolutions to encourage the inclusion of refugees. By
the end of 2015, they called for a more efficient spending of the European Social Fund for the
benefit of vulnerable groups, including refugees. In April 2016, Parliament adopted a resolution
underlining the importance of integrating refugees through programs offering them
accommodation, literacy and language courses, intercultural dialogue and vocational training. In
a resolution adopted in July 2016, Parliament called on the EU to take action and ensure the rapid
and complete integration of refugees into the labor market and society. The resolution highlighted
the importance of education and sport and called on EU countries to help immigrants find jobs.
(Europarl.europa.eu, 2017)

Today's investment in integration policies is essential for Europe to remain prosperous, cohesive
and inclusive in the future. This objective must be a priority for Europe in the coming years.

Only by successfully integrating migrants can migration become a real opportunity for all: for
European citizens, for migrants and for refugees, as well as for societies in general. The optimal
use of EU funds, such as the European Social Fund, plays an important role in supporting the
integration of people from migrant backgrounds, while continuing to invest in supporting the EU's
workforce. (Europa.eu, 2018)

The long-term viability of the Schengen Area of Free Movement depends on the EU's ability to
effectively manage its external borders. Member States must quickly remedy the staff and
equipment gaps faced by border and coastguard police at European level - currently only 74% of
human resource needs and 71% of technical equipment needs are covered. Member States should
also agree on the further strengthening of border and coastguard police at European level, in
particular through the allocation of additional resources under the next long-term budget. To this
end, the Commission will have to quickly propose new legislation to turn border and coastguard
police at European level into a genuine EU border police and the European shelter support office
into a genuine EU authority in shelter. (Ec.europa.eu, 2018)

Starting in 2014, Europe has experienced the largest wave of refugees since the end of the Second
World War. More than one million refugees have arrived in the EU, most of them fleeing war and
terror in Syria and other countries in difficulty. The immediate reaction of the EU to the wave of
refugees has not been delayed. Immediate steps were to provide humanitarian aid and development
aid, with over € 10 billion of the EU budget allocated to tackle the refugee crisis and to provide
humanitarian aid to refugees and migrants in countries outside the EU such as Turkey, Lebanon,
Jordan and Iraq.
One of the major priorities of the EU in the new context of migration was to establish a legislative
framework that provides viable solutions to tackle the crisis. After several debates and calls from
the Commission, the European Migration Agenda, which is currently one of the ten political
priorities of the current European Commission, was adopted on 13 May 2015. Through the
European Migration Agenda, the European Commission has set out to develop a solidarity
structure that can be triggered at any time to help any EU member state experiencing a crisis and
extreme pressure within the shelter due to the disproportionate flow of immigrants from third
countries. (IRES, 2017)

In conclusion, it is true, indeed, that lifting the border controls could trigger a huge migration crisis,
however, as long as, by doing that, there are implemented security systems to avoid terrorism, it
could and can be benefic for Europe. That being said, certain conditions have to be met in order to
lift the border controls in complete safety, without putting people at risk. During the immigration
crisis, Europe has demonstrated that it is capable of mobilizing and controlling the situation. The
most important factor is that migrants will help increase the economy, nevertheless, there must be
a way to control illegal migration and terrorists, without dividing the European countries, but not
only. Moreover, Europe has to help people in need, for example people trying to run from the war,
therefore, they have to be accepted as migrants. It also has to be taken into consideration that by
accepting the lifting of border controls, residential segregation patterns and neighbourhood
compositions are expected to change over time in Europe.

Additionally, the European Union is currently better prepared to cope with the challenges posed
by the variable pressures exerted by migration. The crisis has highlighted the weaknesses of current
EU shelter rules that have led to different treatments for shelter seekers across the EU and have
encouraged travel from one Member State to another. Arrivals have returned now at the pre-crisis
levels, but the underlying structural pressure of migration remains strong - which means that
Europe is in a favorable context to remedy the deficiencies before the outbreak of the next crisis.
(Ec.europa.eu, 2018)
References

Dumitrescu, L., 2019. Academia.edu. [Online]

Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/25243009/MIGRATIILE_IN_LUMEA_CONTEMPORANA
[Accessed 25 01 2019].
Ec.europa.eu, 2018. Ec.europa.eu. [Online]
Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/euco-migration-booklet-
june2018_ro.pdf
[Accessed 25 01 2019].
Eschooltoday.com, 2017. Eschooltoday.com. [Online]
Available at: http://eschooltoday.com/migration/the-pull-and-push-factors-of-migration.html
[Accessed 25 01 2019].
Europa.eu, 2018. [Online]
Available at: europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-364_ro.pdf
[Accessed 25 01 2019].
Europarl.europa.eu, 2017. [Online]
Available at:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/ro/headlines/society/20170629STO78628/integrarea-
refugiatilor-in-europa
[Accessed 25 01 2019].
IRES, 2017. Migratie si criza refugiatilor in Europa, s.l.: Institutul Roman pentru Evaluare si
Strategie.