2 - Toward a people's Europe: an institutional analysis of immigration policy in the European Union

Summary

Act II, Scene 1: In the spring of 1984, a large protest movement of lorry drivers erupted on the German–French border as a reaction to long queues. The ensuing paralysis of crossings at numerous internal European borders foreshadowed the Schengen Agreement, to pave the way for a gradual suppression of control of persons. Ironically, by the late 1980s, the Schengen group became the symbol of fortress Europe. This irony not only epitomizes the practical nature of freedom of movement, and its vital role in further integration, but it also unveils the proximity between “Europe without frontiers” and “fortress Europe.”

(Diary of researcher, June 1997.)

Scene 2: How, finally, can we visualize freedom of movement and freedom of establishment for individuals within the Community, unless we gradually define the elements of a common immigration policy and adopt a comparable, positive attitude to the integration of immigrants already living among us?

(Jacques Delors, president of Commission, 1989: 26.)

The character of immigration and the European movement toward integration together have created a practical need for transnational regulation and standardized policy-making. A major question in considering EU progress on free movement has been: to what extent have European nation-states abdicated state-level and decision-making interests to forge a common immigration policy at the supranational level? This question can be readily answered by examining institutional developments at the ground level.

Whether intergovernmental or supranational in form, the contours of a common immigration policy are shaped by regional integration dynamics.