European Union (EU) leaders claim they wish to reform the bloc’s migration policies and speed up deportations, as major members call on the European Commission to enact new guidelines later this month. France and Germany, the largest countries in the bloc by population, have joined others in calling on the Commission, the EU’s unelected executive, to produce new guidelines by October 17 “for determined action at all levels to increase and speed up returns from the European Union.”
EU leaders are set to meet in Brussels, Belgium, next week and are pushing for a change in migration policy as anti-mass migration parties surge in polls and win elections across the EU. The most recent—and one of the most notable—was the election victory of the populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPOe), which not only advocates for “Fortress Austria” border controls but also for a policy of “remigration.”
A number of populists have proposed remigration, which could involve deporting illegals or even legal migrants who refuse to integrate into society. For the Sweden Democrats, who now have a role in the Swedish government, remigration could involve stripping criminal migrants of Swedish citizenship.
Some countries in Europe have tried to strengthen immigration measures on their own, with Germany enacting 6-month-long land border controls after several fatal mass stabbings involving Islamist-inspired migrants, despite being members of the EU’s open borders Schengen agreement.
Following the European Parliament elections this year, more populists and conservatives now occupy the European Parliament, and stricter immigration controls stand a stronger chance of passing than in the past.
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