Fabrice Leggeri, the executive director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), was of the opinion on Thursday 25 February, during an event of the Robert Schuman Foundation devoted to the ‘asylum and migration’ pact, that it was “well-deserved and overdue” that an enquiry group be created in the European Parliament while the agency has been accused for several months of the so-called pushback of migrants, notably in Greece (see EUROPE 12641/22).
Thereis such a group “for Europol, and there is one for Schengen, and would there not have been one for the European Corps, which is going to have 10,000 members? It is perfectly normal for checking or inspection or audit bodies to function and do their work”, said Mr Leggeri in the presence of the Vice-President of the European Commission, Margarítis Schinás, and the MEP Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe, France).
“The agency is well aware of its responsibility and the need to be able to explain and account for the way in which we operate. The current transformation, with the European Corps, is a transformation of nature. For the first time, an agency has ceased to merely be a European administrative body, but has staff on the ground”, added the director of Frontex. “This provokes a reaction because it is unusual”, he said in defence.
Mr. Leggeri also added: “When you see everything that has been written in the press about allegations of pushbacks, it is almost inevitable that the regulators will come looking. I think it is indeed in the interests of the agency, thanks to all these surveys and the answers we provide, to be able to show that the work has not been done in a way that would be contrary to the law”.
By his side, the Vice-President of the Commission explicitly supported the European agency, while the competent European Commissioner, Ylva Johansson, remains more critical of the boss of Frontex; she criticised him for delaying the hiring of staff specialising in fundamental rights. The agency should have been staffed with 40 specific agents at the start of 2021.
“The Commission is giving the agency its full support to help it quickly take up its new tasks and enable the permanent body to reach its full capacity of 10,000 border guards without delay, said Margaritis Schinás, who blamed the charges against Frontex on “the temptation for some to resist this turning point”.
“Frontex should be the centre of gravity for several elements of the Deal. It is a central piece in the success of the migration policy in the coming years”, said the Vice-President of the Commission. He then added, “ all these transition issues are management issues that need to be resolved in a clear and convincing manner” and Fabrice Leggeri “has the executive responsibility to be able to do so”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)