Impact of the Schengen Area on the Everyday Practices in Croatian Border Regions: Comparing Land and Sea Borders

This paper argues that the analysis of the internal and external borders of the EU can tell us a lot about Schengen as part of the Europeanization process and the consequences of EU policies on daily practices. To that end, it presents a comparative analysis of Schengen land and sea borders in Croatia - the most recent EU member (2013) and among the last to join the Schengen Area (2023). Croatia’s external frontier comprises both types of border crossings, with 55 land road crossings and 13 sea crossings. Prior research on Croatian borderlands and borderland studies more broadly has focused primarily on land borders (Zavratnik-Zimic, 2003; Leutloff-Grandit, 2023), leaving sea regions relatively neglected, despite the Schengen Agreement’s equal territorial application to both (EUR-Lex, 2000). Contrarily, some scholars highlight comparative advantages of sea borders over land borders (van Geenhuizen & Rietveld, 2002).

Theoretically, the paper adopts a critical perspective that conceptualizes borders as processes rather than fixed realities (Fassin, 2015; Rumford, 2008). Borders and the Schengen regime are understood as flexible and dynamic formations shaped through processes of bordering and debordering (Schimmelfennig, 2021). These processes are mutually constitutive - borders shape actors and everyday practices; those practices in turn reshape Schengen. Consequently, border areas are approached as dynamic social spaces embedded in historical experiences and collective memory rather than merely zones of political-geographical separation.

Methodologically, this is a qualitative study that combines semi-structured interviews and visual ethnography. Interviews explore how respondents articulate their experiences of borders before and after Croatia’s Schengen accession, focusing on socio-historical, economic, and security dimensions. Fieldwork has been conducted since 2024 and includes over 50 interviews with residents, workers, border police, economic actors, political representatives, and religious leaders across six Croatian border areas. The research includes both urban and rural, internal and external Schengen borders (with Slovenia, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro). To complement the interview data, visual ethnography was incorporated. Photographs, field sketches, and spatial notes were systematically collected to document border infrastructure, remnants of war, symbols, and everyday movement. These materials enable the analysis of borders as socio-material formations and provide insight into how borders are inscribed in infrastructure and landscapes.

The paper addresses the following two research questions: How has Schengen accession reshaped everyday practices when comparing land and sea border areas? How do historical legacies, mobility regimes, and everyday economic practices shape the understanding of Europe across Croatia’s land and sea borders?