Transforming travel in Europe: A critical analysis of the debate on EU Digital Travel

Abstract

The objective of the present study is an analysis of the EU Digital Travel project within the European Union, with a view to examining how this initiative fits into the broader context of the regulation of travel documents.To this end, the study will undertake two main tasks: firstly, it will present the traditional concept of the travel document as well as current activities of the European Union and its member states in the field of travel document digitisation. Secondly, it will present and analyse the positions taken in the public and expert debate on the EU Digital Travel project. The research question focuses on whether digitising travel documents in the European Union actually facilitates citizens' mobility, or if it could costitue a threat to individual rights. The study is a continuation of the authors' prior work in the field of migration law and informatization of public services. Methodologically, a combination of legal and institutional analysis (desk research) was employed, overing legal acts, programme documents, and expert studies, as well as an analysis of the public and political discourse surrounding the project. The study's added value lies in its critical synthesis of the arguments in the debate and its positioning of the EU Digital Travel project within the long-term process of travel transformation in the contemporary world.