On the morning of Wednesday 30 November, the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) interviewed the three candidates for the succession of former Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri (see EUROPE 12942/1).
In a relatively short time - under two hours - they heard pledges from the current Latvian acting director, Aija Kalnaja, the Croatian Terezija Gras, who is currently a member of the Croatian government, and the Dutchman Hans Leijtens, who is already a member of the Frontex Management Board.
The three candidates were questioned in turn on the agency’s transparency efforts, the problem of pushback (particularly in Greece), the implementation of the regulation adopted in 2019, and the acquisition of new aviation assets. The European Parliament will have to give its opinion to the European Commission, which will then submit it to the Frontex Management Board. The latter will make its decision before the end of the year.
At the end of the interviews, the candidacies of Ms Kalnaja and Mr Leitjens seemed stronger in the eyes of some of the interviewers. Ms Gras appeared somewhat defensive and wanted to defend her government’s actions with regard to violence against migrants at the external borders.
In any case, Terezija Gras kicked off the proceedings. This former pilot of Croatia’s EU accession process has also been tasked with overseeing the implementation of the 155 recommendations made to Zagreb for access to the Schengen area, which could be agreed by EU interior ministers in December.
With this experience, the current State Secretary in the Croatian Ministry of the Interior also highlighted her record on migration and terrorism issues. She promised the elected representatives that she would do everything possible to remedy the irregularities identified in the OLAF report that had led the Frenchman to resign and to put in place “very clear internal rules”. The Croatian pledged for an action plan with concrete measures to address each problem identified by OLAF, and for a strict code of conduct for Frontex agents on the ground. She added that there will be a “zero-tolerance policy for (internal) harassment”, but did not elaborate on her ideas. Training to strengthen Frontex’s rescue capabilities may also be offered.
Unsurprisingly, the Croatian candidate was questioned extensively by the Greens/EFA and The Left groups about the alleged pushbacks by Croatian border guards. The candidate defended the actions of her government for a long time, but also made comments on NGOs that were criticised by several elected representatives.
After her, Latvia’s Aija Kalnaja seemed a bit stronger, having already been in charge of the agency since mid-2022. If this candidate is considered by some as an heir to Fabrice Leggeri, she presented her programme almost flawlessly, assuring the elected representatives that the agency has already begun an internal overhaul by involving the officers in charge of fundamental rights more in the decision-making process.
The current director also promised to increase transparency and access to documents requested by elected representatives. She assured the interviewers that things are improving in Greece, where there are far fewer reports of incidents. She added that Frontex “has helped save 13,000 migrants at sea this year”.
She also wants to strengthen the agency’s operational assistance to the Member States and to develop a strategy for acquiring new air and sea surveillance assets by 2025-2027. Another objective is to increase the return rates of illegal immigrants.
While the Latvian was rightly criticised by some elected officials for her Leggeri legacy, she acknowledged that trust in the agency “will be difficult to regain”. She also promised an “open and honest dialogue” with the European Parliament and the Member States, but without making promises to the European Parliament that Frontex cannot keep.
Dutchman Hans Leijtens also took this pro-transparency line and was able to bring in his experience from the inside, as he is already a member of the agency’s Management Board. He expressed concern that Frontex was not deploying “its full potential” in assisting Member States, and raised doubts about respect for fundamental rights. The lack of trust in the agency is also a problem.
His priorities will be to improve “the efficiency of Frontex, strengthen the legality of operations, and restore confidence in the agency”. This will require training for officers, but also clear protocols on what Frontex officers can and cannot do. While Leijtens’ operational experience has been praised by some, his candidacy might be adversely affected by the fact that a Belgian, Catherine de Bolle, already heads Europol.
The LIBE coordinators must try to meet on Thursday 1 December to evaluate the interviews. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)