Brussels, 31/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 31 May, the representatives of the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the European Commission started “trialogue” talks on the future European border guards and coastguard agency, after the MEPs of the committee on civil liberties (LIBE) adopted their position on Monday 30 May (see EUROPE 11561).
The aim of the various parties involved is to reach an agreement by the end of June to allow the agency to be up and running as quickly as possible. However, the timetable seems extremely ambitious, if only due to the density of the subject and the number of articles in the regulation, according to one European source.
On Monday 30 May, the members of the LIBE committee gave Latvian reporter Artis Pabriks (EPP) a mandate to lead these discussions with the Council and the Commission. The EP's approach is fairly different on a number of points: in the event of the refusal of a member state affected by strong migration rate pressures and under fire over a number of shortcomings in its management of joint borders, the text voted through by the MEPs does not give the member states the right, in return, to re-establish controls on their own internal borders to protect themselves for a period of up to 2 years - a possibility that is included in the general approach adopted by the Council in April (EUROPE 11526).
Another sensitive issue is that of the agency's right to intervene, possibly without the consent of the member state in question. The report adopted on Monday 30 May is reasonably ambiguous on this point: although the reporter maintains that the agreement of the country in question is required on an operational level before any intervention on the part of the agency, the text adopted stipulates at the same time that this country must apply the decision of the Council (for instance, the intervention decision). This point will move on over the course of the trialogue, another source said on Wednesday afternoon.
For the remainder, the LIBE commission said that it was the responsibility of the Council to decide to intervene quickly on the borders in the event of crises. In cases in which a member state is facing increased pressure on its external border, such as disproportionate migratory pressureor cross-border crime, rapid border intervention teams could be deployed temporarily, by request of the member state or by decision of the Council. The MEPs also agreed to expand the agency's role further as regards returns, allowing it to help the member state in returns operations, although the European border guard and coastguard call will not organise such operations to a third country in which there are risks of violations of fundamental rights, in line with the principle of non-refoulement.
The European border guard and coastguard agency will not have its own border guards, but will be able to draw upon a rapid reaction reserve of 1500 border guards appointed by the member states. States with no external land or sea borders must make 3% of their national border guards available to the agency, whilst for those with land or sea external borders, this figure will be 2%. Under the text approved, the European border guards and coastguard agency will also be accountable to the Parliament and Council. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)