Online conference addresses the future of Europe’s borders
Fri 7 May 2021

On 23 April 2021, Edinburgh Law School co-hosted an online conference with the European Policy Centre and the Edinburgh Europa Institute to address the future of Europe’s borders, particularly in light of new European initiatives, such as the European Commission’s upcoming “Strategy on the Future of Schengen” and the proposed Regulation on Border Procedures.
The conference considered both internal and external borders, as well as the links between the Schengen and Dublin systems, and provided an opportunity for stakeholders, institutional actors and experts to discuss and gain insights into the operation of EU border controls.
Emily O’Reilly, the European Ombudsmen, opened the conference with a speech on ‘Transparency and accountability in the management of European borders.’ This was followed by a first session on internal border control and, inter alia, the practices in re-introducing border checks and their compatibility with EU Law. The second session focussed on external border controls and the challenges connected to migration control objectives, individual protection needs and upholding human rights standards. The day was concluded by remarks from the Council of Europe’s Special Representative on Migration and Refugees, Drahoslav Štefánek, where he discussed the elements shaping today’s policy in Europe on migration management.

The conference created a fantastic forum to discuss some of the most pressing issues around European borders with EU policy-makers, officials at the highest levels, national representatives and world-leading scholars. A very fruitful debate developed, and we sincerely hope to continue this conversation in the future.

Our conference provided a very timely contribution to important policy and academic discussions on the future of Europe’s borders. The fascinating exchange of views between the stakeholders present is one we are set to continue as questions around the crisis resilience of Schengen and EU external border management are bound to remain crucial in the period to come.