On Friday 23 February in London, the EU’s coastguard and border guard agency, Frontex, and the United Kingdom signed a working agreement that establishes a long-term framework for close cooperation between Frontex and the UK authorities to combat illegal migration and cross-border crime in full compliance with both parties’ international human rights obligations.
The agreement covers various operational areas of border management, including situational awareness and risk analysis, information exchange, training, capacity building and sharing of expertise in return and border management, as well as technical and operational cooperation. It also provides for the possibility of exchanging liaison officers.
Short-term cooperation could include working together in areas such as developing knowledge of migration routes or cooperating in the fight against document fraud in order to broaden the action taken by Frontex and the UK services in the longer term.
Frontex and the UK will now enter into discussions to establish detailed cooperation and operational plans together, which will include a wide range of joint activities for the coming months and beyond. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)