ABSTRACT
Introduction In autumn 2011, British Home Secretary TheresaMay came under fire after it emerged that border controls had been relaxed in the previous summer in order to limit queues of travellers at border checks. Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stated in a letter to the Home Secretary that it was important ‘to know whether anyone posing a threat to Britain’s national security was allowed to enter the UK’.1 Several tabloid newspapers sharply criticized the relaxed border controls that, in the words of a Daily Mail journalist, had made it ‘easier for illegal immigrants, criminals and terrorists to enter the country unchallenged’.2 Similar concerns were voiced again on 30 November 2011, when a significant number of public sector employees, including from the UK Border Agency, went on strike. ADaily Mail article claimed that
ARTICLE
Introduction In autumn 2011, British Home Secretary TheresaMay cam under fire after it emerged tha bord r controls had been relax d in t e previous summ r in order to limit queu s of travellers at border ch ks. Shadow Home Secre ry Yvette Cooper stated in a letter to the Home Secretary that it was important ‘to know whether anyone posing a threat to Brit in’s national security was allowed t enter the UK’.1 Several tabl i newspapers sharply c iticized the relaxed bord c ntrols that, in the wo ds of a Daily Mail journalist, had made it ‘easier for illegal immigrants, criminals an terrorists to ent r the country unchallen ed’.2 Similar concerns were voi ed again n 30 November 2011, when a significa t number of public sector employees, including from the UK Border Agency, went on strike. ADaily Mail article claimed that
there were ‘fears that terrorists and criminals could sneak into the country’ as a result.3 These two stories aptly illustrate the importance that is often attributed to border controls for preventing terrorism in Europe. The significant role of border controls in the fight against terrorism has also been acknowledged at the global level. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the United Nations Security Council decided that all states should ‘[prevent] the movement of terrorists or terrorist groups by effective border controls and controls on issuance of identity papers and travel documents’.4 The logic underpinning the inclusion of border controls in counter-terrorism policies is straightforward: those representing a terrorist threat to a given country can be stopped by appropriate border checks and prevented from entering it, which contributes to decreasing the terrorist threat in this country. Border controls have now been part of the European Union (EU)’s counter-
terrorism arsenal for a few years. Whilst they had not originally been identified as a priority dimension of the nascent EU counter-terrorism policy, the importance of border controls has grown since then, especially following the Madrid terrorist attacks in March 2004. It is important to critically examine their contribution to the EU’s counter-terrorism efforts because they represent a dimension of the EU’s counter-terrorism policy that has not been given much attention to date. The existing literature has tended to focus on other components of the EU’s counter-terrorism policy, such as law enforcement and judicial cooperation, intelligence cooperation, or the measures aiming to combating the financing of terrorism.5 This has notably been due to the commonly held perception that European countries rely less on such measures than other countries, the United States in particular.6 Contrary to this perception, border controls have actually become increasingly important in the counter-terrorism arsenal of European states in the last decade. To a large extent, the lack of attention to the contribution of border controls in the EU counter-terrorism policy also mirrors the state of the literature on counter-terrorism in general, as it has paid little attention to 3Daily Mail, ‘Heathrow Has Never Been More Efficient! Passengers’ Glee as Border Agency Strike SPEEDS UP Passport Control’, 30 November 2011. 4United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, S/RES/1373 (2001), 28 September 2001, p.2. 5M. Deflem, ‘Europol and the Policing of International Terrorism: Counter-Terrorism in a Global Perspective’, Justice Quarterly 23/3 (2006) pp.336-59; C. Kaunert, ‘Europol and EU Counterterrorism: International Security Actorness in the External Dimension’, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 33/7 (2010) pp.1-34; B. Mu¨ller-Wille, ‘The Effect of International Terrorism on EU Intelligence Co-Operation’, Journal of Common Market Studies 46/1 (2008) pp.49-73; O. Bures, EU Counterterrorism Policy: A Paper Tiger?(Farnham: Ashgate 2011); C. Eckes, EU Counter-Terrorist Policies and Fundamental Rights: The Case of Individual Sanctions (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2009). 6A. Chebel d’Appollonia and S. Reich, ‘The Securitization of Immigration: Multiple Countries, Multiple Dimensions’ in A. Chebel d’Appollonia and S. Reich (eds.) Immigration, Integration, and Security: America and Europe in Comparative Perspective (Pittsburgh, PA:
the role of border controls in counter-terrorism strategies.7 This is rather puzzling given that border controls can evidently play an important role in counter-terrorism by not allowing the entry into a country of persons intending to commit terrorist acts.8 Border checks also represent opportunities to apprehend wanted criminals and terrorists. This article aims to fill this gap in the literature by critically analysing the
role of border controls in the EU counter-terrorism policy. For that purpose, it is structured into five main sections. Firstly, it defines what border controls are and how they are organized in the EU. Secondly, it analyses the aims and priorities of the EU regarding the use of border controls for counter-terrorism purposes. Thirdly, it examines the extent to which the EU has achieved its self-proclaimed aims in this policy area. Fourthly, it critically assesses the EU’s use of border controls for counter-terrorism purposes by questioning their contribution to counter-terrorism efforts in the light of the nature of the terrorist threat in the EU. Finally, the article offers some concluding thoughts. Before proceeding further, it is important to specify that, whilst border controls may be used in order to screen persons, animals or goods, this article is only concerned with the application of border controls to persons.
