The Digitalization of EU Air Border Controls and its Impacts on the Construction of Risk
Much literature on EU border control focuses on irregularized migration at the sea and land borders, despite this only accounting for a fraction of the annual number of border crossings, most of which are categorized as ‘regular’ and take place at the air borders. Focusing on two of Europe’s busiest airports for extra-EU arrivals, Schiphol (Amsterdam) and Frankfurt, and drawing on interviews with different actors across the ‘travel ecosystem’ (including ICAO and EU officials, tech providers, carriers, airport authorities, data protection authorities, and border guards), the project explores how new technologies such as the Entry/Exit System (EES), the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), and the Digital Travel Credential (DTC) impact how border controls are carried out. I argue that these emerging tools facilitate the normalization of banal securitization in EU border control, blurring the distinction between ‘irregular’ vs. ‘regular’ mobility as more people come under strict security checks.
Main Research Topics
- EU Border Control
- Irregularized Migration
- Digitalization
- Securitization
- Frontex
Curriculum Vitae
- July 2024 – current: Postdoc at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität’s (FAU) Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nuremberg (CHREN).
- Jan 2024 – March 2024: Visiting fellow, FAU CHREN. Hosted by the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies: Networking and Knowledge Transfer (FFVT) project.
- Sept 2023 – Dec 2023: Visiting fellow, NCCR – on the move. At the Institute of Geography, University of Neuchâtel. Hosted by Module III, Evolving Regimes of (Im)Mobility in Times of Crisis.
- Sept 2018 – May 2024: PhD in International Migration and Ethnic Relations (IMER) at the Department of Global Political Studies, Malmö University.
Publications and Presentations
- Waerp, E. (2025). EUrope’s Exaggerated Return Conundrum. Journal of Borderlands Studies, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2025.2504886
- Waerp, E. (2025). Nordic Exceptionalism? How Scandinavian Border and Coast Guards Rationalize their Participation in Frontex Operations. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 15(3). DOI: 10.33134/njmr.855
- Waerp, E. (2025). Studying the Absurdity of EU Border Controls. Current Issues in Migration Research (CIMR), Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration (MIM).
- Waerp, E. (2024). The Age of Frontex – Banal Securitization and its Normalization in EUropean External(ized) Border Management. PhD dissertation, Department of Global Political Studies, Faculty of Culture and Society, Malmö University.
- Waerp, E. (2024). Devious Refugees and Harmless Borders? How Frontex Inverts Deviance and Blame. Race & Class, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/03063968241291509
