Irregular immigration in Europe is a complex and dynamic phenomenon, influenced by various political, economic and social factors. This is a close challenge and is already becoming urgent, where border control will soon be the number 1 objective of Europe and more specifically of the Schengen area.

“Border controls clearly respond to the pressure of the electoral results of the last elections, but if Europe wants to continue moving towards its integration it will have to face the biggest of its challenges, which is the migratory problem, it is an issue that goes beyond the economic or social. It is a very complex issue that often arouses contradictory emotions. Europe needs labor and there are many ways to make up for this shortage,” explains Javier Díaz Giménez, professor of economics at IESE Business School.

In the first six months of 2024, there was a significant increase in irregular border crossings at the EU’s eastern borders, with an increase of 148% over the same period of the previous year, exceeding 6,700 cases. The majority of these people were Ukrainian nationals. In 2023, approximately 115,000 unauthorized immigrants were detected in the EU, representing less than 0.03% of the total EU population. While this figure may seem high, the reality is that it represents no more than a tiny faction of the European population. Therefore, the debate is on.

The EU and its Member States are constantly facing this challenge trying to implement control policies, among which is the ETIAS – SEIAV, on the verge of becoming a reality as soon as its base system EES begins its journey in 2025, with a difference between the two of 6 months, we will have very soon this reality in our borders of arrival to the Schengen area. Although ETIAS – SEIAV still faces some challenges:

• Technical and operational implementation: development of the technological platform, interoperability with existing databases, as well as its capacity to respond in real time to all the requests it will receive from the different requesting countries.
• Information security and data privacy: protection of personal data and prevention of cyber attacks.
• Public acceptance and understanding: misinformation and public resistance, lack of knowledge about the process.
• Impact on tourism and the economy: may have a deterrent effect by requiring additional paperwork when traveling. It may also impact on the normal flow of tourists, thus also leading to loss of revenue for the entire tourism sector, airlines, hotels, restaurants, etc….
• Management of refusals and appeals.
• Coordination between EU Member States.