
Berlin to drive EU immigration policy change?
James Westmacott - 3 February 2025
As the 23 February German federal election approaches, much of the campaign’s rhetoric has been centred around curbing irregular migration. Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz – who is heavily predicted to lead the nation’s next government – has announced proposals to re-introduce permanent border controls at all of Germany’s borders whilst simultaneously turning away all asylum seekers attempting to enter from EU neighbours. However, critics argue that this suggestion directly contravenes EU immigration law, with the 1985 Schengen Agreement having effectively abolished checks at all internal land borders as part of the bloc’s wider Area for Freedom, Security, and Justice policy. Current Schengen rules allow temporary re-introduction for internal border controls on the condition that it’s for a serious threat to public policy or security, and that it only remains for six months. The duration can be extended under special circumstances.
Whilst immediate neighbours to Germany, such as Austria and Poland, have publicly questioned the move, the reality remains that many EU member states have already significantly hardened their stance on immigration. The proposals bring about concerns over vehicle trade flow while clashing with the bloc’s principle of freedom of movement. Austria and Poland have also both sounded the alarm that those rejected at the German border will be left stranded internally within their borders instead – a situation that ultimately clashes with the nations’ own plans to limit migration. Herbert Kickl, leader of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria and the man tasked with forming the country’s next government, has called for a sudden halt to immigration. Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister and former EU council President Donald Tusk has also aimed to temporarily suspend the right of arrivals in the country to claim asylum.
Despite this breaching both international and EU law, multiple countries on the European continent have already followed suit. Viktor Orbán’s Hungary has rallied against EU immigration policy for years, with the central European leader now preparing a lawsuit against the European Commission over its€200 million fine for unlawfully detaining and deporting asylum seekers before they could appeal their application rejection. While Italy has challenged the European Court of Justice after outsourcing asylum applications to non-EU and accession candidate Albania, France also implemented border controls with its six neighbours, very much in the mould of Merz’s proposed measures. But with the latest directive potentially stemming from Berlin (a traditionally major player in EU policy) in response to the shifting of the tectonic plates on European migration policy, will Germany’s new governing coalition accelerate a bloc-wide rethink?