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[[Image:Festung_europa.jpg|thumb|"Fortress Europe" (symbolic photo), European Parliament, Strasbourg]]
'''Fortress Europe''' is the term given (usually perjoratively) to the idea of the [[European Union]] working to keep non-EU goods and nationals out of the Union's 25 member states.
In the view of many critics the [[Common Agricultural Policy]] is a classic example of a Fortress Europe policy, as it protects European agriculture at the price of higher prices to consumers within the EU and a distorting impact on the wider world market.
Other critics point to the development of a common asylum and immigration policy as a sign of Fortress Europe at work.
Opponents of the idea of Fortress Europe can come from many political viewpoints. British politicians [[Tony Blair]] and [[Gordon Brown]] are amongst its most prominent critics in the field of economics, though both support a tougher line on asylum and immigration.
Others have suggested that the decision of the people of [[France]], on [[29 May]], [[2005]] to reject the [[European Constitution]] was because of a desire from many to retreat into a Fortress Europe sheltered from the impact of [[globalisation]].
Few would willingly be described as supporters of the concept of Fortress Europe, though many [[Green]]s and [[Communist]]s, [[Irish Republican]]s and others on the [[left]], together with [[fascist]] supporters of [[autarky]] remain opposed to the expansion of global trade.
== Keeping the strangers out ==
It was very easy for non-Europeans to enter the [[European Union|EEC]] until the 1980s. Citizens of underdeveloped countries were seen as victims of capitalism by the communist countries of Eastern Europe. Many Africans and Asians could enter Western Europe via the border of West and East Germany after being transported for very cheap prices by Eastern European airplanes. There were hardly any barriers for foreigners to become a citizen of the EEC-countries.
This changed in the late 1980s, when [[West Germany]] started to control the borders with East germany for strangers from underdeveloped countries. Revolutions made an end to the communist regimes in Eastern europe in 1989. Measurements became more and more stringent to keep strangers out of the European Union during the 1990s.
===Making the travel more difficult===
Many European immigrants lend their passports to family and friends so they can enter the EU with the airplane. Passports are forged and stolen on a large scale. European countries are increasing punishment for giving away or missing passports. Airplanes and ships from countries with a high risk of economical immigrants are checked for strangers in the airfields and ports of Europe. This means that illegal immigrants have to travel through non-European countries and have to sneak over the European borders.
Migration to Europe (especially from Africa) increased enormously during the 1990s. The European Union has made agreements with neighbouring countries to keep strangers out. [[Poland]], [[Czech Republic]], [[Hungary]] and other countries that joined the EU in 2004 were forced to do something against strangers so they couldn't reach the EU-borders. [[Algeria]] and [[Morocco]] are checking the southern borders. Africans are imprisoned for months and then brought to [[Mali]] in buses with a one-way ticket to the south.
Crowdy routes are through the Sahara and then using dangerous boats to get to Spain or Italy. Another route is from Asia via Moscow and Eastern Europe. Budapest and Bosnia used to be popular for illegal immigrants during the 1990s.
===Protecting the European borders===
The [[Strait of Gibraltar]] was in the news regularly. Africans used boats to get to Spain. The Spanish coastal police checks the sea day and night. The beaches in southern Spain are regularly checked. Many Africans have drowned and were found on the Spanish beaches. [[Melilla]] and [[Ceuta]] have been turned into fortresses with several layers of fences and walls are build to keep the Africans out. Last year, desperate Africans stormed the fences on some occasions, while being shot at by the Spanish and Moroccan police.
Africans try to reach [[Italy]] as well. The Italian island of [[Lampedusa]] has a permanent camp for illegal immigrants who are imprisoned for months and even more then a year. [[Civil Rights Movement]]s are complaining about the poor conditions and the long imprisonment on the island. Many immigrants reach [[Sicily]] as well.
The [[Maritsa]] border is the border between [[Turkey]] and EU-memebr [[Greece]]. This border is overcrwoded with illegal immigrants as well from all kinds of countries.
[[Germany]] needed many customs officers to check the long borders with Poland and Czech Republic before 2004. Immigrants tried to enter Germany through the hills with forests on the border with Czech Republic, using small hiker paths or they swam over the [[Oder]] river. The German police checked the direct borders, but also the highways and other roads further away from the borders.
All borders are checked, because immigrants are even trying the Russian-Finnish borders.
===Illegal immigrants in the European Union===
Laws have been made to keep the illegals living in the EU outside the society. These laws are aimed at keeping illegals away from all institutions, like social security, health care, education etc. The police checks the streats and houses for illegals. Illegals are send to prisons and or deported outside the EU with airplanes. EU-countries have different attitudes towards illegal immigrants. Some are lenient and others harsh. Several incidents has happened, who are against human rights, like the murder of an illegal immigrant on an airplane by the Belgian police. Belgian and Dutch tourists could watch the affair, because it happened on a civilian airliner. 11 imprisoned illegal immigrants died in 2005 during the Schipholfire.
[[Spain]] has legalized 800,000 illegal immigrants in 2003, mainly from [[Latin America]]. This after huge protests from other countries. Other countries and opposition movements are considering legalization as well.
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