Intra-EU border control and security threats

In the last five years, two major crises led the German government to the decision to put in place strict border controls: the refugee crisis in 2015 and the Covid-19 health crisis in 2020. In both cases, the government argued that border control was necessary due to security reasons. ‘European Integration theories’ usually focus on the questions why and how internal borders are removed, which is why there is a theoretical gap concerning internal rebordering which has been only recently filled with new theoretical reflections. In the literature we can observe a growing discussion on the role of borders both regarding external as well as internal borders (Schimmelfennig 2021, Genschel and Jachtenfuchs 2021). In recent years, the theoretical concept of ontological security has been used in order to find explanations how individuals but also states cope with fear and anxiety. Ontological security follows the basic assumption that security concerns not only physical aspects but also the ‘security of the self’ (Kinnvall 2004; Mitzen 2006b). Ontological security theory can thus help us to better understand how the introduction of internal border controls can influence the EU’s management of fear which arises due to uncertainty of the self. Additionally, ontological security provides us with another perspective on why the EU has been in a constant crisis mode concerning its existence. The following questions are the guiding questions of the paper: what is the self-image of the EU? How did the EU react to ‘integrate’ the ‘rebordering’ measures in its self-image in order to reproduce ontological security? This paper aims to shed light on ontological security in the EU and the contentions between the EU and its member states concentrating on the collective identity in contrast to the individual identities of the member states.