Brussels – The European Commission has not done enough to ensure the Schengen Border Code is not exploited for political ends.
The political sphere, civil society, and even the academic world have levelled this accusation at the government in the past. This criticism was raised once again today (20 August) during the EU executive’s daily press briefing on recent events concerning Ceuta. There, between 30 and 31 July, around 80,000 migrants from Morocco attempted to enter the exclave, triggering a crisis that has reignited the debate on internal border controls and the future of Schengen, the area of free movement comprising 29 European countries where people can travel without undergoing border checks between one state and another.
In particular, it was noted that following the latest report on the Schengen Area—the annual report providing an overview of the state of the area of free movement published in May 2026—on 1 June, the Berlaymont Building had recommended to nine countries (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, and Sweden) to take action to eliminate and lift the internal border controls gradually. To date, however, eight European countries (both EU and non-EU) still have a suspension of the free movement of people and goods in place, justifying the measure on “grounds of public security.”
For example, Italy was cited, where the Meloni government reintroduced border controls after the events in Ceuta, adding them to those already in place on the land border with Slovenia to manage migration flows from the Balkan route. Added to this is Germany, which began suspending the Schengen area in 2015, when it reintroduced border controls with Austria to manage the influx of refugees and migrants along the Balkan route, and which has since continued to renew this suspension every six months, citing various reasons, the latest of which was received in Brussels this week.
In light of the observation that the European Commissioner for Migration, Magnus Brunner, is allegedly not doing enough to prevent such abuses, the European Commission spokesperson, Markus Lammert, reiterated that EU law stipulates that “Member States may introduce border controls under certain conditions” and that, at present, the Commission “is working closely” with all Member States that currently have such controls in place, as well as “the Member States affected by these controls.”
The spokesperson emphasised that this involves cooperation not only at a political level, but also at a “technical” level, through ongoing consultations, including with our Schengen coordinator, Olivier Onidi. ““It is a matter of working with Member States to identify alternative solutions, where possible, where the scope can be reduced, in conjunction with agreements between Member States and the Commission,” he explained. Lammert then emphasised that in such a context “it is important to implement digital assistance for border management fully,” and therefore announced that new proposals would soon be put forward concerning the Entry-Exit System—an automated EU IT system that electronically records entry, exit, and refusal-of-entry data for non-EU citizens travelling for short stays within the Schengen area—and Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
As regards the IT system, Lammert stated that the Berlaymont Building is currently assessing how to proceed after 6 September, the date on which the period during which some Member States had suspended the collection of biometric data expires, to avoid serious disruption in the form of queues at entry and exit points, particularly at the busiest airports. “We are in close and constructive contact with those few Member States that are facing difficulties at a particular time, or that faced them before the summer, and we will be getting in touch with all of them,” he added, before highlighting the “successful results” achieved thanks to the system. According to the Commission’s estimates, out of 150 million entries and exits recorded across 29 European countries, over 45,000 refusals were detected, with more than 1,200 cases of individuals posing “a threat to the EU’s internal security.”
Another criticism levelled at the Commission today concerns Greece, where illegal pushbacks at the border and police violence occur, and refugee camps are in appalling conditions. In response to the suggestion that Greece has managed to “reduce the number of irregular migrants, but continues to carry out pushbacks and violate the law,” Lammert replied that “he believes it is clear that the opposite is true” because “we have an EU approach that respects the rule of law” and which, at the same time, has “reduced illegal immigration.” The question: “So does the Commission see no problem with what is happening in Greece?” went unanswered.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
