The securitisation of Schengen : twenty-first century threats to the European border

Abstract

The year 2015 has consolidated its place in European history as a time of migratory upheaval. One year on, the region and its foremost supranational body – the European Union - are still reeling from the aftermath of mass displacement of individuals, and its implications on matters of security. This dissertation, entitled ‘The Securitisation of Schengen: Twenty-First Century Threats to the European Border’ is a study of the Calais border crisis between France and the United Kingdom in the context of immigration, security and European border controls. Two core tenets of the research conducted will be explored: first, the mechanisms and security instruments operating within the Schengen Area and its common borders, with the purpose of coping with unrelenting migrant arrivals; and second, the methods through which encamped immigrants of the Calais ‘Jungle’ are being portrayed as an ‘existential threat’ to European nations and peoples, namely France and the United Kingdom. A review of the extant literature enables a conceptualisation of the securitisation of immigration within Europe and is followed up by an application of the Copenhagen School securitisation theory to the European case. Thereafter, an analysis of the qualitative methodology employed throughout the study is explained, drawing on primary accounts, statistics and information obtained from official European sources and media publications. In effect, the outcomes of the Case Study confirm and reveal the blatant portrayal of immigrants in Calais as a security threat to statehood and citizenry alike. With immigration becoming the watchword in bureaucratic European circles and the highly mediatised subject of ample strategic documents, responses and alliances, the future of European borders is both ambiguous and tumultuous, not to mention a pressing concern.