On Wednesday 20 February, the Member States' ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) approved their position on the new mandate of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (formerly Frontex).
After a partial mandate in December on the Agency's new missions in the field of returns and for cooperation with third countries other than the EU's immediate neighbourhood (see EUROPE 12154), Member States agreed on the progressive formation of a permanent corps of 10,000 agents by 2027, this objective being a maximum to be achieved and not a strict threshold.
As EUROPE had pointed out (see EUROPE 12191), the Commission will be invited to carry out a mid-term evaluation and a proposal to the Member States in 2024 on the needs of the Agency and the Member States.
According to the mandate, this permanent body will be composed of Frontex statutory staff and personnel from the Member States, posted on a short or long-term basis. Several Member States had expressed concern that their national capacities had been reduced with this fixed corps of 10,000 staff, as proposed by the Commission in September 2018. The latter wanted these 10,000 agents by the end of 2020.
The deployments of the permanent corps will take place from 1 January 2021, and 30 months later the Commission will carry out a mid-term review and present a proposal, no later than March 2024, to confirm or modify the number, composition and contributions of Member States to this permanent corps.
Member States will retain primary responsibility for the management of their borders, with the Agency and its staff providing technical and operational assistance, subject to the agreement of the Member States concerned. However, under the proposed new rules, permanent corps personnel deployed in a Member State will be able to exercise certain executive powers to carry out border controls or return missions, always subject to the authorisation of the host Member State, including the use of force with the possibility of using weapons, if national practice so provides.
The European Parliament adopted its mandate on 11 February (see EUROPE 12192) with the report by Roberta Metsola (EPP, Malta). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)