Brussels, 22/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - The Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached agreement on Tuesday 21 June on the new European border and coast guard agency. Member states' permanent representatives approved the agreement on Tuesday 22 June. The border guard agency was proposed by the European Commission in December of last year as one plank of the response to the migration crisis. It should be up and running by the end of the summer, the regulation being supposed to come into effect by then, a source said on Wednesday afternoon.
The point of greatest contention was the agency's right of intervention in particularly weak sections of the external borders and what would happen if the country concerned refused to cooperate. Under the final compromise, members of the Schengen area will, indeed, be permitted to reintroduce controls at their internal borders on the basis of a proposal on coordinate controls issued by the Commission.
The new agency will have reserve of 1,500 border and coast guards who will be paid by the agency within the framework of interventions decided by the Council and liaison officers will be put in place in the member states. The compromise contains new commitments on observance of fundamental rights and the new agency will be authorised to carry out combined returns operations with member states. EUROPE will return to this matter. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)