Controlling the borders of Europe requires an intricate interplay between politics, economics, security, law, and technology.
This book provides a comprehensive and balanced picture of these complexities and dynamics, helping students and policy makers to trace the connections and develop a nuanced understanding of European border control. The evolution of the European Union has seen gradual steps towards political, economic, social, and security integration, with border control playing a pivotal role. The abolition of internal border controls has required enhanced cross-border cooperation between different national law enforcement agencies and judiciaries in order to safeguard security and work together to secure the Mediterranean Sea and the EU's 6,000-kilometre eastern land border. This book helps readers to understand how EU principles and legal considerations have been converted into an intricate institutional arrangement, and how this interplay of values, rules, and actors has impacted actual border control processes and activities. Addressing the topic from nine key perspectives, the book considers the institutional, legal, informational, technological, externalisation, fundamental rights, ethical, international-comparative, and future dimensions in turn.
At a time when border control is becoming increasingly technology and information-driven, the comprehensive overview provided by this book will be useful for border studies researchers and students, as well as for policymakers and for FRONTEX staff, customs officers, security, and migration professionals.