(de-news.net) – Germany’s Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has ordered the continuation of temporary controls at all German land borders for an additional six months beyond 15 March 2026. According to government sources, the extension forms part of a broader recalibration of national migration policy and is intended to respond to what officials describe as persistent security and migration-management concerns. The Federal Government is formally notifying the European Commission, a procedural requirement for maintaining such exceptional measures, given that systematic internal border controls are generally prohibited under the Schengen Agreement framework. Within the Schengen area, member states are obligated to preserve free movement of persons absent narrowly defined emergency circumstances. In this context, Dobrindt reportedly reaffirmed the implementation of controls along Germany’s borders with neighboring countries and characterized them as a central instrument in tightening the country’s migration governance approach. The extension, in that sense, signals continuity in the Federal Government’s reliance on border-based enforcement tools as part of its migration policy strategy.
Critics evoke Schengen consensus
At the same time, legal scholars and migration experts have expressed reservations regarding both the legal durability and the broader policy implications of the decision. Daniel Thym, a migration law specialist at the University of Konstanz, cautioned that the legal rationale underpinning the rejection of asylum seekers at the border could weaken considerably once the European Union’s reformed asylum regime enters into force. The updated Common European Asylum System (GEAS), scheduled to take effect in June, is designed to strengthen external border procedures and reduce irregular secondary movements within the European Union. By addressing structural deficiencies that national governments have previously cited to justify unilateral controls, the reform aims to harmonize standards and reinforce collective responsibility. In this evolving legal environment, the continuation of internal border controls may face heightened scrutiny as the justification for extraordinary national measures becomes less compelling.
Further criticism has been articulated by Constantin Hruschka, professor of social law at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences in Freiburg. In his assessment, the volume of asylum applications at the relevant times did not constitute an emergency of sufficient magnitude to warrant the suspension of ordinary Schengen rules. Hruschka also warned that sustained unilateral actions by individual member states risk undermining the fragile political consensus underpinning the European Union’s migration framework. Beyond legal considerations, he highlighted the potential economic repercussions of prolonged border checks, including disruptions to cross-border trade, commuter flows, and travel within the internal market.
