Sicurezza e libera circolazione: quali prospettive per l’area Schengen?

The issue of security and the free movement of citizens in the Schengen area takes on a historical resonance that lies in the tension between national orders and economic liberalism but is also an evolutionary acquisition of modern positivism resulting from political experiences and democratic transformations between states. This essay investigates the implications on public security that emerged after the terrorist events of 2001, with respect to which the Schengen area helped to create a new consciousness, new forms of guarantee and security devices for the protection of the community space. In other words, Schengen fuels that collective imagination that sees the European Union as an area of freedom and opportunity for the citizens of its member states who consider freedom of movement to be one of the main pillars achieved through EU integration. However, the terrorist attacks of recent years have challenged this model, re-proposing dystopian scenarios that suggest further spaces for vulnerability and oppression.