Brussels, 13/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 13 September, French, German and Spanish ministers for the interior spoke out against the European Commission proposals for implementing strict guidelines on the reintroduction of border controls. They reaffirmed that this was the “political responsibility” of EU member states in this domain.
In a joint press release, the ministers for the interior from Germany, Spain and France - Hans-Peter Friedrich, Antonio Camacho and Claude Guéant respectively - thanked the European Commission for having swiftly met the request from the European Council made on 24 June, to strengthen governance of the Schengen area.
The three ministers point out that “strengthening Schengen governance in case a member state is no longer able to comply with its obligations under the Schengen rules is an important and shared concern, and a mechanism should be introduced to respond to exceptional circumstances putting the overall functioning of Schengen co-operation at risk”. These countries are advocating a new mechanism to rapidly rectify the existing shortcomings and will therefore introduce a safeguard clause, which will allow for the temporary re-establishment of internal border controls as a last resort.
Hans-Peter Friedrich, Antonio Camacho and Claude Guéant explained that according to the Commission proposals the Commission will assume responsibility for deciding on the temporary re-establishing of internal border controls not only in the case mentioned above but also in other general cases, which have until now been covered within the remit of member states' national sovereignty (for example those facing a terrorist threat or in need of protection during a major political or sporting event). They consider that, “respect of national sovereignty is crucial for member states” and they do not approve of the Commission's wish to assume responsibility for making decisions on operational measures in the security field. They assert that it is up to the member states to maintain public order and ensure their own internal security.
The three ministers ultimately affirm that “the decision whether to re-introduce temporary checks at the internal borders is based on an intensive assessment of the national security situation, which can only be carried out by the member states on the basis of the expertise and resources of their security authorities”.
In a proposal discussed at the college of commissioners on Tuesday, the European Commission expressed a wish to play a key role when framing the measures for the possible reintroduction of national border controls in the Schengen area, when faced with examples of mass immigration, for example. In the future, countries would have to do make a request to the Commission and justify this request. The request would then be subject to approval at qualified majority voting, which would be more difficult to obtain than simple majority voting of EU member states. (L.C./transl.fl)