In an interview granted to Politico on Thursday, 8 January, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Magnus Brunner urged Germany to gradually lift its internal border controls.
Warning that such controls cannot become a “semi-permanent” feature of the Schengen area of free movement, Mr Brunner reiterated that Berlin had reintroduced controls at its nine land borders in September 2024, targeting asylum seekers and unauthorised entries. “These are temporary measures available to Member States”, insisted the commissioner, stressing that “‘temporary’ means ‘time-limited’”.
Mr Brunner would rather Berlin rely on the revamped European asylum framework (Common European Asylum System or CEAS), which provides for better guarded external borders and accelerated procedures—thus reducing the need for border controls between Member States.
In addition, the commissioner supports escalating the return of Syrian refugees to their country of origin—a subject now expected to be discussed when President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council António Costa travel to Syria at the end of the week (see EUROPE 13775/6).
“Our asylum agency has found that the situation has improved,” indicated Mr Brunner, explaining that the EU is mainly counting on Syrian refugees returning voluntarily. (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)