A European Internal and Security Policy: Freedom of Movement for Whom?

The achievement of European economic integration has required the elimination of internal borders, to facilitate the free circulation of persons, goods and services. The removal of these obstacles has meant, however, not only greater freedom for people in general and workers in particular to move from country to country within the EU, but also new opportunities for terrorists, international criminal organizations, and illegal immigrants. Once inside the European Union, the activities of these groups are no longer bound geographically by international borders. To this new set of problems corresponds the need to develop new mechanisms of police and judicial cooperation, intergovernmental, supranational, or mixed. Finally, European Union citizens must confront not only the advantages of increased freedom of movement but also the new problems created by the increased freedom of movement: Greater vulnerability to crime, to drug trafficking, and to competition for jobs and social services by illegal immigrants. Since European citizens are not very prone yet to move beyond their national borders, not even to work (see Table 1), whereas transnational criminal activities have increased (Roth/Frey 1992), the perceived disadvantages may often outweigh the perceived advantages. Consequently, unless crime and illegal immigration are effectively handled, many citizens may end up developing misgivings toward the removal of borders, thus far one of the most salient and popular achievements of the European Union.