The Commission of the European Union has decided to launch an official investigation into whether the border controls that Denmark has systematically prolonged since the reintroduction in 2016 are illegal.
According to the Commission, the reintroduction of internal border controls is a last resort and strictly limited in time. For this reason, they are now assessing whether Denmark breached the law, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Speaking for Information, an EU Commission spokesperson said that it has already started the consultation process and is examining if the systematic prolongation of border controls is in line with the EU law.
The Commission’s position is clear. The re-introduction of border controls must be exceptional, strictly limited in time, and a last resort. In order to assess whether the internal border controls are necessary, proportionate, and based on the existence of a new serious threat to public order or internal security, the Commission has started the formal consultation process, which is currently ongoing,” the spokesperson said.
In addition, the spokesperson said that so far, the meetings between the Commission and Denmark are already taking place at the senior official level.
Commenting on the recent developments, Jens Vedsted-Hansen, who is a migration law and EU law professor at Aarhus University, said that the Commission is losing patience with the systematic extension of border controls by Denmark.
The same stressed that they want to put an end to the prolongation of border controls as soon as possible.
“The Commission has so far not wanted to deal with Denmark and the other Member States with border controls. But now they apparently think that it must be enough,” Vedsted-Hansen said.
As the Information explains, Denmark has been keeping border controls with Germany at all times since 2016, and in May of this year, the Minister of Justice, Peter Hummelgaard, extended the controls for another six months.
Moreover, Denmark just recently decided to further tighten the border controls following Quran burnings.
Concerns regarding the systematic prolongation of border controls have been raised before too. However, Minister Hummelgaard said back in February that nothing suggests that the current temporary border controls that Denmark has are against EU law.
Moreover, he said that the Commission had been notified about Denmark’s decisions to prolong the border controls every time.
“No one has found it illegal. The Commission has been communicated and notified completely openly. If the Commission had thought that it was illegal, then the Commission would have taken steps within the rules to have it stopped,” Minister Hummelgaard said.
Denmark is not the only country that is keeping border controls. Several other countries are doing the same, and the Commission has already launched other investigations too.