Goodbye Schengen after German border control? Not so fast
Will the German move put the Schengen Treaty, which abolished border controls between 29 European countries, under pressure? European politics professor Hendrik Vos (UGent) does not believe this will happen at this pace, he says in our news podcast “Het Kwartier”.
“It all depends on how strict those controls are and whether there will be traffic jams. But a country like Germany will not be able to afford that. We are all very dependent on imports and exports, in time.This makes it very difficult to turn every truck or convoy upside down.”
According to Vos, this is a “symbolic policy” after several recent incidents and attacks. “The question is whether we still control who comes here,” he added. This increases the pressure on politicians to take action. But closing down an entire country is simply not possible.”
“Our economy has become very fragmented. People have become accustomed to it: you can travel to neighbouring countries without any problems. If you really want to impose border controls to keep crime out, for example, you have to do it carefully. Then it doesn’t work. You have to have a police officer watching cars passing somewhere on the highway. Then you also have to watch all the small lanes, day and night. And that cost is simply too high.”
