The conference « What Future for the Concept of Borderless Europe? Perspectives of Border Policies and Territorial Cooperation in an Age of Multiple Crises », organised by the LUPS-CESCI Research Group on Cross-Border Cooperation and TEIN will explore the evolving perspectives of border policies and territorial cooperation in an era of multiple crises.

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After the Iron Curtain has fallen down and the democratisation process started in the former communist bloc at the age of the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty, the concepts of ‘Borderless Europe’ and an ‘ever closer Union’ seemed to be doable in the near future. The free movement within the Schengen zone has remarkably been contributing to the development of a rather optimistic view on the future of Europe where the administrative borders gradually lose their significance or even disappear.

Since 2015 we have been witnessing a process which is quite the opposite of the above expectations: the migration crisis and the terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016, the Brexit in 2020, the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and 2021, the Russian invasion against the independent Ukraine in 2022 and the socio-economic impacts of all these crises resulted in the re-discovery of borders. It means that each component of these crises strengthened the re-nationalising, de-globalising tendencies within the EU whose most salient result was the re-establishment of the state borders, the border control measures and a much stricter border management than before.

The young generation faced with closed borders for the first time in their lives during the pandemic. 2 million cross-border commuters (many of them employed in the social and health sectors impacted the most by the pandemic), tens of thousands of students (so-called ‘Erasmus babies’ included), and more than 150 million border people found themselves in a brand-new reality when the national governments sealed the borders overnight.

Furthermore, during the migrant crisis in 2015, not only some borders were closed but even new fences have been erected which seems to be continuing due to the war in Ukraine. These new tendencies also shook the Schengen system: some countries exploited the relevant derogations included in the Schengen Code to permanently prolong the controls re-established during one of the crises. Today, lively disputes can be seen among the Member States regarding the further alleviation of the strict rules of the Schengen Zone.

As a consequence, the European discourse fundamentally changed: instead of the elimination of borders and border obstacles, the issue of security has come to the fore; instead of further integration of borderlands through the new tool of ECBM (European Cross-Border Mechanism), the Member States have decided to tighten the Schengen rules; instead of further strengthening the Single Market, national autarchy has become again an option…

All the above phenomena challenge the optimistic concept of Borderless Europe. At the same time, it is obvious that without open internal borders, without the guarantee of the free movement of people, goods, services and capital, without the promotion of cross-border cooperation the European project loses its sense and energy. To put it simply: the future of the EU depends on the future of its borders.

The conference aims at pointing at the main achievements and results of European cross-border cooperation and the challenges cooperating partners are facing today, namely: migration, ethnic and armed conflicts, the abuses of the Schengen system, etc. The lectures are planned to be published in the Journal of Advanced Studies on Borders, Cooperation and Development (the ABCD Journal) to be launched in 2024.