In mid-July, the European Commission announced plans to create rapid reaction teams of border guards to deal with the European Union’s illegal immigration crisis. The purpose of these teams is to respond to requests for help from EU member states.
The rapid border intervention teams are to provide “expertise and manpower” for countries in difficulty. Consisting of border guards and experts, they will carry out border patrols. The EU leading security agency, Frontex, will draw up the operational plans, accompany the teams on the ground, and conduct regular training.
Planning such an operation “is currently complicated by a muddle of different national laws in each member state governing what tasks foreign border guards can fulfill” (bbc, July 19.). At the same time, the European Commission is tightening up on other aspects of immigration. On July 19 it also approved a list of policies aimed at tackling illegal immigration, including a new system for registering incoming and outgoing visitors of the EU in order to more easily identify those who have overstayed their visa.
The burning issue of illegal (namely Muslim) immigration is compelling EU member nations to work together. If we sift through the pessimistic news stories hyping European divisions, we can see much evidence that European integration is progressing at a steady pace, only awaiting a major crisis to speed it to prophetic fulfillment.