The latest agreement on the governance of the Schengen border control regime simply revamps old rules and changes little on the ground.

Concerned by growing migratory pressures on Europe’s external borders, some EU member states have called for a revision of the rules regarding the imposition of national border controls within the EU. Ruben Zaiotti examines the recent agreement on the governance of the Schengen border control regime, which aims to clarify how these controls might operate. He argues that the agreement is a political one that gives relatively vague solutions to what are complex problems, and that the next crisis over Schengen is only a matter of time.