Dialogues beyond the 'fortress Europe' : tracing back the genesis and evolution of the 'free circulation of persons' concept through European Parliament Schengen area debates, 1985-2015

Abstract

This contribution aims to enhance the mapping and critical analysis of the evolving priorities and policy-making objectives of the EP key players upholding or resisting the building of the Schengen Area and, more particularly, the consolidation of the principle of the free circulation of persons within the EU. As this historical process touches upon the complexities of the construction of transnational identities, it also aspires to provide the complementary methodological viewpoints of history of concepts and critical discourse analysis for the study of socio-political relations and democratic decision-making. Indeed, the unconventional EP debates on this matter can help us to elucidate if free movement of persons was being granted as a subsidiary concession or if it constituted and end in itself, being, therefore, in direct relation with EU foundational propositions and long term hopes based on the principles of solidarity and sustainability. In short, the critical examination of such documentary corpus could play an essential role in empowering EU citizens and residents arguments against any possible involution of the Schengen area into the largely condemned ʻFortress Europe’. Hence, it could also aid to re-encounter that particular version of European integration devoted to transforming stumbling blocks into stepping-stones.