Ursula von der Leyen has been warned that the EU could reach its end, as an increasing number of countries have decided to break with Schengen Area rules amid spiralling migration.
As many as 11 EU countries have rebelled against EU policies on border checks in the face of growing concerns about illegal migration.
Former MEP Ben Habib said the new checks might signal the end of EU freedom of movement, adding: “the realisation that it is deeply damaging will also spell the end of the EU”.
A number of nations, notably Germany, Slovakia, France, and Sweden, have reinstated border controls, such as passport checks, identification checks, police interviews, stationary checkpoints, and vehicle inspections.
The Schengen Treaty removed these kinds of travel restrictions many years ago.
Former MEP Ben Habib said: “The removal of borders in Europe with the creation of the Schengen zone was daft.
“The EU sought to remove countries’ borders to undermine the sense of nationhood across Europe and enhance its own relative importance and control.
“What it created was, amongst other things, a massive security risk.
“Western nations and their borders exist generally as a result of a social construct which took hundreds of years to settle. Their removal exposed these countries.
Recently, the Schengen zone has reminded us how important it is to have borders.
“330,000 illegal migrants entered the EU last year. Once in Europe, because of the Schengen zone, they could travel wherever they liked.
“It is because of the Schengen zone that it is so difficult to monitor movement and people smugglers.”
He added: “Thank goodness a handful of countries, including France, have reinstated border checks. There is now hope illegal migration might be checked.
“There is now also hope that the idiocy of ever closer union under the jackboot of Brussels will be seen for the threat it poses to European nations and our security.
“Freedom of movement is a fundamental pillar of the EU. With any luck, the realisation that it is deeply damaging will also spell the end of the EU.”