Crisis, Migration and the Consolidation of the EU Border Control Regime

In this paper I will try to understand in what sense it is possible to talk of a migrant or refugee ‘crisis’ in the EU. I will also consider the consequences a narrow interpretation of the ‘crisis’ in terms of increasing migratory pressure has had for the evolution of the EU border control regime. I will first describe the essential features of this border control regime. I will show how the intense public debate on the ‘crisis’ has prevented public opinion from seeing how its root causes were not to be found in exogenous factors hitting the EU from the outside, but, rather, lie in the intrinsic weaknesses of the EU border control regime which the political instability in the Mediterranean region has brought to light. I will then look at the EU response to the crisis, showing how this has moved in the direction of an attempt to restore the EU border control regime. Finally, I will argue that the alleged ‘crisis’ has brought about a further consolidation of the uneven political geography of the EU borders.