Europe Day in Macau | UM scholar: ‘No vision’ to tackle European refugee crisis

Sten Verhoeven

Europe has been dealing with a migratory crisis for quite some time, but has thus far failed to manage the matter appropriately. A systematic solution to control the flow of migrants and refugees is not yet in place, according to Sten Verhoeven, an assistant professor at the University of Macau’s (UM) Faculty of Law.

The scholar said European governments have failed to address the underlying causes of these crises, such as poverty, income inequality and other economic and political conditions.

“Continuously, migrants will keep on arriving at the shores.  So the question is why do they arrive, and that’s what I meant with ‘no vision’,” Verhoeven clarified.

The scholar was speaking on the sidelines of Europe Day, an event organized by the European Union Academic Programme – Macau (EUAP) yesterday at UM.

Freedom of movement among European residents was an achievement of the European Union that has since become a continent-wide problem, as terrorists can now easily move between member states.

Terrorist attacks conducted by EU citizens of Islamic background, as well as widespread smuggling of weapons and illegal goods, have been attributed to poor immigration control. 

“That’s an avoidable consequence […] they [EU] have taken interest in database data sharing but there are still a lot of work to be done,” continued Verhoeven.

Verhoeven said that freedom of movement is a boon for globalization but said that the phenomenon has created new challenges which need to be addressed, albeit “reluctantly.” 

On the other hand, he added that states now demonstrate more willingness to cooperate with neighboring regions.

According to Verhoeven, terrorist organizations which have been active in Europe are mostly based online, due to the ease of communication via social media. He said European governments require better cybersecurity to deal with such groups.    

Echoing the same sentiments, Jorge Sales Marques, president of the Institute of European Studies of Macau, recalled that European citizens are permitted freedom of movement under the Schengen Area agreement.

The agreement allows residents of 26 European states to travel freely without showing their passports, and can bypass immigration at shared borders. 

“This agreement has ben somehow put under very strong pressure with the refugee crisis as well as terrorist attacks in the EU. Some of the other states [have] decided to reinstate internal border control,” Marques said.

However, the existing legal framework of the Schengen Area agreement limits extensive border control. Aviation and marine authorities still have not implemented these specific security measures.   

Marques clarified that temporary internal border controls in the Schengen area would be phased out this year, as recently announced by the EU Commission.

“The movement and circulation of people in the EU space is very important not only because of the all the advantages and [low] transaction costs […] but also because it helped build the sense that after all, particularly for the EU citizens, they are traveling within their own domestic space,” he concluded.

Macron’s victory to attract investors to Europe

Professor Sten Verhoeven has agreed that the victory of France’s president-elect Macron will make Europe an attractive area of investment. He said the centrist win could assure investors that, unlike the United Kingdom, there would be no referendum over France’s departure from the European Union (EU).

“It [the EU] still has its issues but nobody would want to go back to the National Front because that was not the best solution,” he said.

As Macron’s win represents a vote for European unity, the scholar said he hoped the president-elect would succeed in carrying out his plans, especially for economic reform.

“The president-elect will now have to prove that he can deliver [on his promises] because I’m afraid the next election would otherwise be a victory for the National Front,” he concluded.