The decision by Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berluscioni to seek reform of the Shengen agreement which gives people the right to move freely within the EU is yet more bad news for an ailing European project.
France and Italy have decided to abandon the dream of a borderless Europe in order to stem the flow of migrants fleeing North Africa's troublespots. They imagine that this will end the heamorraging of votes from the political mainstream to racist right wing parties.
In their dreams. If anything, this latest sign of blind panic from Europe's political elite in the face of a resurgent vote for bigotry and extremism will only confirm public anxiety over migration and will further weaken the EU.
The panic is over the final destination for some 25,000 Arab migrants that have arrived on the shores of southern Italy since the start of the year when the Arab spring began. Berlusconi refused to accpt that Italy had to take them all in. He demanded a European policy to solve this problem so he gave his visitors interim visas permitting them travel to where most of them really wanted to go -- to France.
Sarkozy stopped the trains on the borders and refused to allow them to enter, thus breaking the Shengen accord. Now the two countries -- led by men who have been ruthless in their disregard for the rights of Roma migrants during the past year -- want to renegotiate the Shengen agreement. This will, almost certainly, lead to stricter and racist border controls affecting poor, vulnerable and desperate migrants. Only the well-off and people with skills to help keep European economies on the move will be welcome in future.
It's the latest sign of decay in the dream of a unified Europe of solidarity and values. Already Greece, Ireland and Portugal are in economic intensive care and it is likely that one of them will deliver a hammer-blow to the single currency with a financial default in the coming months. The imposition of austerity cuts across Europe have devastated public services and increased unemployment.
In a few days the last brick in the wall of social-welfare capitalism will be cast aside when Germany ends a ten-year process of labour market deregulation by giving employers the green light to enforce yet more precarious standards of employment on the country's long-suffering workforce. The worst hit will, of course, be the migrant communities.
In all of this media continue to play a disgraceful role -- sensationally muddling the figures over migration, failing to explain the social realities of spending cuts, giving voice to unscrupulous and hate-filled extremists, sapping the morale of communities.
There is little room for optimism in any of this, but it is surely time for a more humane and vigorous political movement to emerge.
France and Italy have decided to abandon the dream of a borderless Europe in order to stem the flow of migrants fleeing North Africa's troublespots. They imagine that this will end the heamorraging of votes from the political mainstream to racist right wing parties.
In their dreams. If anything, this latest sign of blind panic from Europe's political elite in the face of a resurgent vote for bigotry and extremism will only confirm public anxiety over migration and will further weaken the EU.
The panic is over the final destination for some 25,000 Arab migrants that have arrived on the shores of southern Italy since the start of the year when the Arab spring began. Berlusconi refused to accpt that Italy had to take them all in. He demanded a European policy to solve this problem so he gave his visitors interim visas permitting them travel to where most of them really wanted to go -- to France.
Sarkozy stopped the trains on the borders and refused to allow them to enter, thus breaking the Shengen accord. Now the two countries -- led by men who have been ruthless in their disregard for the rights of Roma migrants during the past year -- want to renegotiate the Shengen agreement. This will, almost certainly, lead to stricter and racist border controls affecting poor, vulnerable and desperate migrants. Only the well-off and people with skills to help keep European economies on the move will be welcome in future.
It's the latest sign of decay in the dream of a unified Europe of solidarity and values. Already Greece, Ireland and Portugal are in economic intensive care and it is likely that one of them will deliver a hammer-blow to the single currency with a financial default in the coming months. The imposition of austerity cuts across Europe have devastated public services and increased unemployment.
In a few days the last brick in the wall of social-welfare capitalism will be cast aside when Germany ends a ten-year process of labour market deregulation by giving employers the green light to enforce yet more precarious standards of employment on the country's long-suffering workforce. The worst hit will, of course, be the migrant communities.
In all of this media continue to play a disgraceful role -- sensationally muddling the figures over migration, failing to explain the social realities of spending cuts, giving voice to unscrupulous and hate-filled extremists, sapping the morale of communities.
There is little room for optimism in any of this, but it is surely time for a more humane and vigorous political movement to emerge.
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