In Brussels on Wednesday 12 October, the executive director of Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, outlined the scope, resources and missions of the new European Border and Coast Guard – which now replaces Frontex in managing the EU's external borders.
The legislative procedure for setting up this new agency was done in record time, in an effort to respond to the urgency with which Europeans believe it is necessary to control the EU’s external borders – which are subject to strong migratory pressure. In the middle of December 2015, the European Commission presented the draft regulation to set up a new European Border and Coast Guard (see EUROPE 11454). Seven months later, the European Parliament and Council of the EU approved the creation of this agency, which will be built on the pre-existing structures of the Frontex agency. The European Border and Coast Guard became operational on Thursday 6 October, with its first mission being carried out at the Bulgarian-Turkish border (see EUROPE 11640).
Leggeri welcomed the outlines of the new agency, which will have "more scope, more power and more resources" than Frontex. In terms of finance, the new agency will have a budget of €250 million for 2016, which is practically twice as much as the Frontex budget for 2015 (€142 million). The budget planned for 2017 will rise to €320 million.
With regard to personnel, 1500 new officers, border guards and coast guards, have been recruited and trained, in addition to the 1500 officers already in place. They form a permanent reserve that can be mobilised in the event of a crisis or an emergency at the EU’s external borders – whether these occur on land or at sea.
Leggeri stated that one of the objectives of the new European Border and Coast Guard agency would be to take action in the area of security. "Cooperation between what was formerly Frontex, Europol and the national police forces will be reinforced, in an effort to carry out a permanent fight against terrorism and organised crime”, he said. To achieve this, external borders must serve as "filters" for domestic freedom of movement and locate "what is not the EU".
The new agency will therefore be able to collect personal data. Given that this involves shared responsibility, it will work closely with member states and proactively assist them at the external borders.
Vulnerability tests as from January 2017. The new agency will proceed, as from January 2017, to carrying out vulnerability tests, which will help identify whether member states are equipped correctly and whether they have the capacity to tackle a threat or crisis situation at the external borders of the EU. "The organisation for all member countries will be analysed once a year, and their personnel will be identified and weak points strengthened in as short a timeframe as possible”, Leggeri stated. He will submit a methodology on this to his board next week. It will then be tested on three member states that have volunteered: Germany, Finland and Slovenia.
The new agency will also work towards developing an efficient returns policy for irregular migrants. From 2014-2016, joint return operations quadrupled. In 2016, 7200 who were not eligible for protection were sent back to their countries of origin. This figure is double the number for 2015. According to Leggeri, "these returns are a fact! They must be carried out with humanity and in respect of fundamental rights". The agency has officers with relevant skills in this area, as well as real resources, and will continue to develop its migrant identification capability. (Original version in French by Thomas Régnier)