Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "Is the Schengen Area Collapsing?" video.

  1. Schengen is working really well internally, yes there are some small issue with less developed eastern EU members but overall, Schengen is working really well. The real problem isn't Schengen and isn't the EU's fault, the problem is that we've got a union of open boarders, which means problems of anyone EU members ends up being a problem for all, the issue being is that the EU doesn't have the powers to enforce its external boarders or immigration policy, that's done at a members level, 27 voices pulling in all directions, it's easy to see how it can go wrong. In the end, if the EU is going to have open boarders internally, the EU needs to be given more powers when it comes to the EU's external boarder and on immigration, at the moment, there's very little the EU can do apart from try to get EU countries to hammer out an agreement, Schengen is just exposing the flaws of having those powers at a national level and not an EU level.
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  2. That's where the real problem is, a union of open boarders internally needs the union head to have the powers to enforce its boarders and immigration policies, which it doesn't have the powers for now. All Schengen is actually doing is exposing the weaknesses of the members not the EU, but seriously, what on earth made them think you could have open internal boarders whiles the external boarder and immigration policy is handle at a members level, 27 voices all pulling in different directions, it was just asking for a mess and it also ends up meaning that some countries like Italy and Spain don't get the help needed to deal with it, if it was done at an EU level, they likely would get the help needed, it would be much easier to enforce the external boarders and to have a fairer more balanced immigration policy. Schengen is just exposing the flaws of those powers being in members hands and it's showing all the time how many members argue with each other, that's where the real problem is and there's only two ways to solve it, either give the EU the powers to solve this issue at a transnational level or put all the boarders up, but doing that would hurt our standard of living and make us less economically competitive over the long run, in other words, EU members are going to have to find a solution at an EU level.
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  3.  @tomlxyz  The EU doesn't have the powers in these areas, that's where the real problem is, each EU member is doing its own thing, the only two ways to solve this is either all the borders go up which would over the long run make us poorer, or the EU needs to be given more powers to enforce the external borders of the union, as well as immigration policies. The real problem isn't the EU, it's the actually members with the problem being exposed by having open borders in a union that the EU has little powers in enforcing the outer borders.
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  4. There's not actually anything wrong with the Schengen area, the actual problem is that EU members have control over their outer boarders and immigration policy, which doesn't make sense in a union of open boarders. To solve these problems, these powers really need to be given to the EU to protect the boarders and for it to handle immigration, which a big part of that problem at the moment is that there are different policies from different countries pulling in different directions, whiles the areas that need more help isn't getting enough, a lot of which could be solved more effectively if the powers of these areas were handled at an EU level. So Schengen isn't the problem as such, but it is exposing the problem of having those powers at members level in areas that are transnational.
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  5.  @anita.b  I'm well aware of those treaties, but clearly they don't work, if they did, we wouldn't be getting all this mess of individual countries pulling in all directions, contradicting what you wanted us to think. Beside, you really should read what I said above before posting, because clearly you didn't understand what was being said.
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  6.  @Kalimdor199Menegroth  The problem isn't the EU as such, it's that the EU doesn't have the powers in these areas, it has to work with EU members to come up with a deal, the problem is that members are pulling in all direction. You've got an open door policy in a union where boarders are controlled at national level, it's easy to see where the blame is, it's also easy to see where the solution is, if you're going to have open boarders in a union, the EU is going to need the powers to enforce its boarders whiles also having more powers on immigration policies. So Schengen isn't the problem, the members are, after all, we've got 27 voices pulling in all directions, what did you honestly expect to happen? The solution is simply, it's weather they can hammer out a deal to make it happen, but big reforms on the EU are needed, this is one area where it's really needed, as well as on veto rules. If we don't get our act together, it's going to make us poorer and less economically competitive on the world stage.
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