Openness Versus Helplessness: Europe’s Border Crisis, 2015–2018

Abstract

Almost 2 million irregular migrants and asylum seekers arrived by sea to Europe between 2015 and 2018, plunging the EU into a crisis often misconstrued as purely a moral battle between east and west. However, this comfortable conceit obscures dynamic political and interdisciplinary conflicts within the Union that remain poorly understood. Their roots go back to the foundation of the passport-free Schengen travel area in the 1990s and centre around the opposing regional interests of Member States on border control; disagreements on asylum policy between states and other protagonists, notably the European Commission and UN Refugee Agency; and the seemingly irreconcilable priorities of diplomats, development experts and interior officials. Hugo Brady—a senior advisor on migration in the European Council from 2015 to 2019—gives an insider perspective on the bellicose debates between EU leaders during this period; characterises Europe’s crisis response; and explains how small states worked to protect their fundamental interests from the furore.

The author was home affairs advisor and speechwriter to Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, from January 2015 to December 2019. This account is by nature subjective but the intention is provide those wanting to understand the debates surrounding EU migration policy with a rare insider perspective on the events analysed in this volume.