By land, sea and air, the European Commission wants to protect the EU’s borders against irregular arrivals of migrants. In full evolution towards a toughening of immigration policies despite the demographic winter facing the Old Continent and the drop in arrivals, the head of the Community Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, looked this Wednesday at the Union’s projects aimed at strengthening the surveillance of the borders of the community territory and plugging all possible loopholes in the entries of those who do not have the residence permit or the characteristics (increasingly reduced) to request asylum.
The German conservative – who, like other prominent figures on the European right, has espoused an anti-immigration narrative traditionally championed by the far right – explained that she was working to strengthen the European border agency (Frontex) with 30,000 additional employees. In addition, with a panoramic view, Brussels is trying to consolidate a new alliance with transport companies on key routes to also stop arrivals by plane of those who do not have all the permits to enter and stay in the EU. An alliance which includes the international airline regulator, as well as air transport operators and airports.
“Smugglers are changing their means of transport. Traditionally, they used private boats or trucks, but now they are increasingly turning to commercial transport,” von der Leyen said at a conference of the Global Alliance Against Migrant Smuggling in Brussels, just days after the Twenty-Seven and the European Parliament approved progress towards the controversial creation of deportation centers outside the EU.
Brussels’ plan, declared the head of the Community Executive, is “to prevent trips offered by migrant smugglers”, by fighting not only against entries, but also against the information and advertising of these trips which, she assured, are generally offered via the Internet. In addition, Brussels is trying to progress, with the G7 countries, in a model focused on financing networks that help migrants access community territory and clandestine banking operations, as well as imposing sanctions on human traffickers. In 2024, national and European agencies seized more than €12 million in illegal assets in Europe, from boats to firearms, according to European Commission data.
Traditional conservatives are not the only ones to move towards a Europe transformed into a fortress. Social democratic governments like that of Denmark or the United Kingdom (which is no longer part of the EU and which declared its divorce largely due to immigration issues) have also adopted this rhetoric. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen – one of the EU leaders calling for a tougher crackdown on irregular arrivals – on Wednesday demanded better border controls to curb irregular immigration and even called for a review of the Council of Europe’s European Convention on Human Rights, which they say hampers the fight against irregular immigration.
This Wednesday, at a Council of Europe ministerial conference, those present called for the development of a political declaration on migration and the European Convention on Human Rights by 2026, as well as a new recommendation on the smuggling of migrants.
On a column in the British newspaper TutorStarmer and Frederiksen assure that what they are defending is not extreme, but rather what citizens are asking for. They believe, like many traditional conservatives (who have often been devoured by the far right), that adopting this thinking and acting accordingly is, moreover, the best way to combat ultrapolitical groups. “Unless responsible governments reflect the concerns of their citizens, the populists will win,” they argue in the article. “The best way to combat the forces of hatred and division is to show that progressive, mainstream politics can solve this problem,” they say.
“Migration must be orderly, managed and sustainable. Irregular routes should not be the preferred option, so we must dismantle human trafficking networks that profit from desperation,” they write.
This idea of “orderly migration” also features in the new initiatives of the European Commission, which is proposing agreements with certain countries to encourage those who manage to do so with work and for certain sectors of work that the EU needs. Under the name Talent Associations, Brussels has already signed pacts (some still controversial with countries with a long history of human rights violations) with Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Von der Leyen also announced a new agreement with India on Wednesday.
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