Jean Monnet ‘New European Borderlands’ Network

The 2015 “migration crisis” has put unprecedented pressure on the European Union’s (EU) institutions. The then current migration regime failed, and the uncontrolled inflow of migrants and refugees showed the inherent problems of the Schengen system all too clearly, leading to political tension among member states, with some opting for open-door policies, and others securitizing migration as a threat to national security. Some member states even erected border fences and introduced border control mechanisms within the Schengen Zone. Meanwhile, the EU itself is continuing to externalize its borders by creating “new borderlands” in North Africa, in Turkey and the Balkans