Schengen, free movement & immigration policy
The new migration and asylum pact: Smoke and mirrors?
23 May 2024
The EU’s new asylum rules are unlikely to make the current system more humane and effective, or less controversial. The EU should rethink its approach to co-operation with third countries.
The CER at 25: Ahead of its times
01 February 2023
Over 25 years, Charles Grant has often been asked “What are think-tanks for?” His answer has usually been: “Thinking long term.”
Europe's migration problems are back
24 November 2022
The migration spat between France and Italy is a reminder that EU migration politics continue to be toxic, and that Europe’s common migration and asylum system remains incomplete.
Four questions on how the Russian assault on Ukraine will affect Europe
01 March 2022
CER experts provide answers on the off-ramp for Putin, Germany’s defence spending, how to deal with refugees, the internal battle over the rule of law and the impact on the EU’s neighbourhood.
A new migration crisis may be brewing
27 July 2021
Member-states have made some progress towards a common asylum system. But large divisions endure and the EU's efforts to increase co-operation with third countries will continue to face difficulties.
Why Europe should spend big like Biden
29 March 2021
The scale of Biden’s spending plans means the US economy will recover much faster than Europe’s. Yet in many ways it is the European economy that is in greater need of stimulus.
The Commission's 'new migration pact': Handle with care
26 October 2020
The European Commission's new migration plans are more likely to succeed than previous attempts at reforming the system.
Will the coronavirus pandemic deliver a coup de grâce to Schengen?
30 September 2020
The EU’s Schengen area will survive the pandemic. But member-states need to co-ordinate border closures and set clear criteria for imposing quarantines, or they will imperil the single market.
Schengen reloaded
11 November 2019
The EU's Schengen borderless area is popular, but has been challenged by the migration crisis and terrorism. It needs updating, but not a complete reset.
The EU's Security Union: A bill of health
21 June 2019
The Security Union has a mixed record. The next EU leaders should learn from its successes and failures to deal with fresh security questions like migration, China and disruptive technologies.
Catch me if you can: The European Arrest Warrant and the end of mutual trust
01 April 2019
EU countries trust each other less than they used to, making them less willing to co-operate.
Tearing at Europe's core: Why France and Italy are at loggerheads
12 February 2019
Tensions between Italy and France are rising due to domestic politics in both countries, personal acrimony between Salvini, Di Maio and Macron, and policy differences.
Why Europe needs legal migration and how to sell it
20 December 2018
Europe needs migrants, and migration is inevitable. Now, European leaders must articulate a powerful case for opening legal migration channels, rather than defaulting to vote-winning policies of containment and control.
Merkel's migration deal: Less than the sum of its parts
09 July 2018
The June European Council has not solved the EU’s migration problems.
Plugging in the British: Completing the circuit
22 June 2018
Post-Brexit internal and external security co-operation arrangements seem as hard for the EU and UK to agree on as trade. Other third countries’ relationships with the EU provide models.
Plugging in the British: EU justice and home affairs
25 May 2018
Police and judicial co-operation will not be easier to negotiate than trade. To get a good deal, the UK and the EU need to move beyond their hard-line opening positions.
The Ukraine model for Brexit: Is dissociation just like association?
27 February 2018
Some argue that a Ukraine-style association agreement offers the UK a viable model for its future relationship with the EU, combining both ‘sovereignty’ and close economic ties.
The biggest Brexit boon for Germany? Migration
11 December 2017
Germany's economy desperately needs qualified immigrants to fill 780,000 jobs. Brexit will help it to do so.
How the EU and third countries can manage migration
01 November 2017
The EU's response to migrants crossing the Mediterranean is shifting from internal reforms to deals with countries in Africa and Asia. This approach has potential pitfalls and upsides.
Brexit and the threat to Northern Ireland
20 July 2017
A hard Brexit risks many of the gains of twenty years of peace and cross-border co-operation in Northern Ireland. Only a special EU status can stop the rot.