New Crisis, Same Attitude? EU External Border Measures and Third-Country Nationals in Pandemic Times

Friedery, Réka (2023) New Crisis, Same Attitude? EU External Border Measures and Third-Country Nationals in Pandemic Times. QUARTERLY ON REFUGEE PROBLEMS - AWR BULLETIN (QRP), 62 (3). pp. 251-266. ISSN 2750-7882

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Abstract

At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the European Union restricted the movement of third-country nationals into the EU. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the tools the European Union used to promote a more effective role for the EU's external borders in managing the crisis. The study looks at the nature of the measures, i.e., restrictive or non-restrictive, to understand the policy of crises management and the measures relations with each other and assesses them within the EU legal framework. The study points out that the mobility restrictions of third-country nationals brought up the memory of the 2015 migration crises, which was also unexpected and thus prevented the EU from taking the lead in coordinating Member States’ actions. The study emphasises that, although the EU was still not ready with an advanced crisis management response, the external borders system offered an opportunity to facilitate a more coordinated response by Member States. This opportunity has been seized in light of the present crises, almost offsetting the delayed EU actions in connection with the unilateral actions made by Member States on their internal borders.

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