Crimmigration at the Internal Borders of Europe?Examining the Schengen Governance Package

This article focuses on how the Schengen Governance Package, and in particular the revised legal framework on the temporary reinstatement of internal border checks, should be valued within the broader process of crimmigration. First we elaborate upon both the recent incidents that underline the criminalization of migration in Europe and the recent developments in the Schengen legal framework on internal border control.  Subsequently, based on an analysis of official notification letters issued by the respective Member States, we analyse the development of how often, and on which grounds, they temporarily closed their internal borders in the period of January 2000 - March 2014. In doing so, we pay attention not only to the question whether Member States have been using (the fear of) (cr)immigration as a reason to invoke the exception clause, but also to the transparency of the procedures that were followed. Following an assessment of the Schengen Governance Package in light of this analysis, we address certain other forms of border control developing within the Schengen zone. In conclusion, we argue that the way in which the European Commission and the Council responded to immigration-related anxieties is understandable but might have contrary effects in the long run.