Brussels, 13/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - All action taken by Frontex, the European agency responsible for the management of operational cooperation at the EU's external borders, will now have to be in “total respect” of human rights. The efficiency of Frontex will also be strengthened: the agency will own or rent out its own materials and European border guard teams will be set up. These are the main amendments to the Frontex mandate adopted on Tuesday 13 September by the European Parliament (431 votes in favour, 49 against, with 48 abstentions) during the plenary session. This adoption was immediately welcomed by the commissioner for home affairs, Cecilia Malmström. As soon as the Council approves the new Frontex Regulation, it will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the EU's Official Journal. The new provisions will therefore be in application by the end of the year.
The text adopted on Tuesday stems from the agreement with the Council and includes provisions for ensuring that any action taken by Frontex is in total respect of human rights. At the request of MEPs, Frontex will appoint a fundamental rights officer and set up a consultative forum on fundamental rights in an effort to assist the agency's steering committee. The consultative forum will be made up of the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, the European Asylum Support Office, the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and NGOs specialising in this area. The new rules stipulate that in the event of human rights violations, Frontex would be able to suspend or put an end to its missions. Helping member states confront situations involving humanitarian emergencies or sea rescues is also part of the agency's tasks. Frontex will develop different codes of conduct to guarantee respect for human rights in all operations, particularly operations returning refugees. No individual will be able to be repatriated or handed over to the authorities of the country when their life or freedom is under threat. Frontex will respect the principle of “non refoulement” in all circumstances.
The agency will also purchase or rent its own equipment (vehicles, helicopters, etc) and will therefore no longer be dependent on allocations from member states as was the case in the past. The new binding rules also apply to member states so they respect their commitments. These will be negotiated on an annual basis and will provide a set number of border guards or agency materials.
National border guards appointed by member states to take part in missions will reinforce the European border guard teams and are expected to help increase Frontex's efficiency and make its action more visible by merging “common support teams” and “rapid border intervention teams”. Although the rapporteur on this dossier, Simon Busuttil (EPP, Malta) said that he was satisfied with the result, other MEPs were more critical at the EP. The S&D Group would have liked to have made more progress. Speaking on behalf of the Greens, Hélène Flautre from France said that “recasting the mandate is not a guarantee for the reliability of procedures when addressing breaches of individual rights, given the absence of independent and effective observation mechanisms”. Cornelia Ernst from Germany, speaking on behalf of the GUE/NGL, stated that although she admitted that the new mandate for Frontex was a clear improvement, it could also be seen as a wolf in sheep's clothing. (O.L./transl.fl)