Faced with growing public fury over uncontrolled migration, Brussels is scrambling to look decisive. Its latest proposal to tighten visa rules for “non-cooperative” countries is being sold as bold reform—but it merely repackages measures already in place.
The announcement comes as polls show growing public discontent over mass immigration and the EU’s inability to control its borders. The European People’s Party (EPP)—the dominant force in the European Parliament, from which Commission president Ursula von der Leyen hails—is trying to give the impression of “doing something” without disturbing the technocratic consensus that rules Brussels.
Among the proposals are the use of drones to monitor migration routes—something EU border agency Frontex has been doing for years—and more frequent reviews of visa exemptions. The Commission will be able to suspend or withdraw these exemptions in “extraordinary circumstances,” a vague formula that allows political manoeuvring without real commitment. The Commission’s talk is just political theatre.