ABSTRACT
The security threat is generally held to be the reason behind the most restrictive measures found under the growing area of immigration policy of the EU, including its visa requirements. The cost of implementing the EU acquis on frontier control also includes the changeover from former military to new civilian structures in external border control. The high financial and administrative cost of erecting and maintaining Schengen borders — especially at sea borders — is implicit in the very strictness and sophistication they require. The high financial and administrative cost of erecting and maintaining Schengen borders — especially at sea borders — is implicit in the very strictness and sophistication they require. Given that international migration is determined by geopolitical and economic factors there was therefore the fear that, upon enlargement, third-country nationals from these external regions would benefit from the open borders they shared with their ‘Unionised’ neighbours and gain access to the more preferred destination countries within the EU.
