European Parliament endorses reform aimed at providing European Border and Coast Guard Agency with 10,000 staff by 2027
On Wednesday 17 April, following a debate that became quite heated at times, the European Parliament approved the new rules for the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, which will have a permanent corps of 10,000 staff by 2027 and will have new powers with regard to returns. The report by Roberta Metsola (EPP, Malta), which was voted through by 403 votes to 162 (with 44 abstentions), reflects the agreement reached with the Council of the EU at the end of March (see EUROPE 12224/14).
During the debate before the vote, however, several MEPs were upset that the European Parliament was able to vote on a new reform of the former Frontex agency under its mandate, while the Council of the EU, "was not able take a decision on the asylum package", as the French socialist MEP, Sylvie Guillaume, complained. Other MEPs, including Ska Keller (Greens/EFA, Germany), complained that the agency's mandate had not been expanded to carry out rescues at sea and that the only provision for operations of this kind in the mandate was as part of border surveillance.
The GUE/NGL MEPs accused Europe of “murdering” migrants at sea. Other groups, including the ECR group, were unable to support this agreement because "it is too little, too late". The group would particularly have liked the Agency to be able to carry out returns from non-Member States to other non-Member State, by, for example, assisting the authorities in Niger with regard to other non-Member States, a requirement that was dropped during the negotiations. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)