Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "The EU’s Migration Crisis Explained" video.

  1. That's more or less how it is and the irony is, the EU isn't so much the problem here, some members in the EU are and at the end of the day, there's only so much the EU can do when some countries in it are either blocking things or pulling in all directions. Unfortunately, it's easy to use the EU as the scapegoat, but in this case, they don't have the powers to fix this, all they can do is try and get it's members to come up with a deal that works, this mess is being done because members are pulling in different directions in a union that has open boarders, it's clear to me what needs to be done, either the EU is given more powers so it can enforce it's boarders and immigration policy, or the internal boarders close in the EU, I suspect the first option is much more likely.
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  2. I think the real issue isn't so much the EU its self, but each EU country having its own policy when it comes to immigration, many of which are pulling in different directions. Normally that wouldn't be an issue, but in the EU, we have a single market with freedom of movement and no borders internal and becomes more of an issue when more immigrants bottle up in a few countries. This is one of those cases where you need a central policy at the EU level, but they don't have the powers to enforce that as it's left to individual members and basically, this is one of those areas that can go 2 or 3 ways, 1, either more powers are giving to the EU so it can enforce the borders better whiles having more control over immigration policies, which include a more even distribution of them across the members, 2 is closing the boarders internally, that's highly unlikely, the third option is to try and figure out a deal among the members, something they've been trying to do for over a decade now and it ends up with a patch up job that kinda works in the short term but doesn't long term. Personally, this is one of those areas that I think the EU needs more powers in these areas, I know the EU gets a lot of the blame on this but the truth is, they have limited powers in what they can do here, it resides with the members and that is where the real problem is and I also feel it's crazy to have an EU union of open boarders among it's members and yet have an immigration policy that's controlled by the members, clearly that needs to be done by the EU and I don't think this problem is going to be resolved until either the EU has the powers to enforce the boarders or the members close their boarders, the first option seems a lot more likely. So the moral of the story, the EU isn't really to blame here, the members of the EU are, the issues we are seeing are caused as a by-product of having open boarders in the EU, but without the powers to control the boarders and immigration policies, there are limits to what the EU can actually do here apart from what it's doing in trying to get the members to come up with a deal that works, but that is a mess and it's become clear that the EU needs the powers in those areas so it can deal with this mess without individual members pulling in all directions. Now the question is, how bad do things have to get before that wake-up call calls home?
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  3.  @nelyrions1838  Actually that's not true, members of the EU can close their borders at any time and have done a few times when needed like when Covid hit, it's just that most prefer not to do that because of the benefits open borders offer, but that power is in the hands of the countries. Poland and the fines go far deeper than migration, in fact, it has little to do with that and is mostly to do with them backtracking on the rule of law, basically, Poland under the last government were turning into what Russia is today. At the end of the day, you can't have an open union while having members doing their own things when it comes to enforcing the outer boarders, it creates a mess and doesn't solve the problem when people can get into the union from any country and make it to the ones that try to put boarders up like Poland did, basically, it archives little, the only silver lining for Poland is that most that enter the EU will likely want to move to western countries. In any case, do you honestly think that Poland putting its border up solves the situation? It doesn't, unless Poland was willing to do that across its entire border that EU citizens can't cross, that's unlikely because Poland would lose out a lot by doing that. The only solution is this has to be done at an EU level but they need the powers to be able to do that, which they don't have at the moment, the only other solution is that all EU countries put up their borders, but then all stand to lose if they did that and it's unlikely that any will go that route, so unless you can come up with a solution that works and doing what the EU and its members are doing at the moment isn't working and even if the members come up with a solution over the coming months, it's likely going to be a patch up job with the mess returning at some point in the future. In any case, what you suggest with countries closing their boarders, doesn't solve the problem, it just puts it on hold until the boarders are open again, unless the boarders stay closed all the time, which is unlikely, at the end of the day, you can't square a circle, you can't have the benefits of open boarders across the union and then have its members doing their own thing, it creates a mess, it's easy to blame the EU but the fact is, they don't have the powers to do anything about this apart from getting the countries together to try and hammer out a deal, in the end, this problem is created by the members themselves, not the EU, it's a by-product of the benefits of having open boarders in the EU and the only solution I see working is when it's done at an EU level, because this issue is transnational, in other words, it's crazy to think this problem can be solved by the members alone when there are open boarders and members pull in different directions.
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  4. Depending on how it's done, the current system is unworkable, and even if they come up with a patch up deal, it will likely only work for a short time. Personally, I think reforms are needed on the EU, especially on the EU Commission, I also think the European Parliament needs to be given more powers and I think it's crazy that we have a union with open boarders among it's members and yet we have borders and immigration policies control at a national level, it's easy to see how that can be a major issue in a union of open boarders and I only see one solution, the EU needs to be given the powers to enforce it's borders and immigration policy, until then, individual members will continue to pull in all directions. Basically, the issue we are having is a by-product of freedom of movement in the EU, but the real issue is the EU not having many powers to do anything about the external borders or immigrations as that is a national policy and with the fragmentation it's showing, you get the mess we see the last decade. If you're going to have a union of no internal boarders, it makes a lot of sense that external boarders to that union, as well as immigration policy is control at an EU level, in other words, there is little the EU can do here apart from work with it's members to try and get a deal done, but even then, it's likely a patch up deal at best.
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