The Pitfalls of Border Procedures

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum proposes to make border
procedures a central and mandatory feature of the common asylum and
return policy. In the Commission’s view, border procedures are essential
both to reduce irregular secondary migration within the EU and to
increase the very poor return rate of migrants refused entry at the external
border. The Pact forms a clear break with the existing asylum acquis,
wherein border procedures are exceptional and facultative. This article
appraises the Commission’s proposals on the basis of current border
procedures in EU Member States. It is shown that the Commission’s
proposals only fleetingly engage with legal and practical deficiencies that
systematically surface in border procedures in the spheres of detention,
reception conditions, and access to legal remedies. The article also
submits that the positive potential of border procedures can only be
unlocked if cooperation between Member States (solidarity) and with
third countries (return) is significantly improved. The benefits of border
procedures are fraught with contingencies, while encroachments on
individual rights and administrative burdens are considerable.