Reform of the EU border agency | “Frontex is a paramilitary force”

Frontex is training its new border force itself. Here the current year celebrates in Warsaw. Photo: Frontex The EU Commission wants to expand Frontex's mandate. On what points?

The Commission has set three priorities: more powers for Frontex in returns, as requested by Member States; greater freedom for the agency to handle personal data, as Frontex finds itself hampered by existing regulations, in particular when working with Europol; and more flexible cooperation with third countries to prevent irregular entries and facilitate returns.

It should have published an impact assessment on this reform by February, as is usual for legislation of some importance. She refused and postponed this until the publication of the regulation. But even now this document is not publicly available. Officially, we therefore know neither the reasons for the reform nor its possible effects.

Laura Salzano is a lawyer and researcher at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute in Vienna. She specializes in EU law and European migration law and has published widely on the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex.

Yes, even if the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, has not made it clear who will have legal responsibility in these centers: Frontex or the Member States. He claims that this will be regulated in bilateral agreements. However, the return regulation does not provide for this. Brunner can't possibly be unaware of this.

One problem with the new regulation is that it does not bind the establishment of return hubs to international agreements. Agreements of various kinds will suffice, such as the memorandum between Italy and Libya. These are difficult to sue in court.

If Frontex carries out returns from third countries, do the risks for migrants increase?

Of course, and hugely so. In non-EU states that have not joined the European Convention on Human Rights, the protection standards are significantly lower. In addition, it will be difficult to control what happens there - neither from a legal nor from a journalistic perspective.

All the problems that we have observed at the external borders in recent years will multiply exponentially. We will not know what is happening there and there will be no clear tools to pursue violations.

Frontex currently has 8,000 emergency personnel. With the reform, their number is expected to increase to 30,000. Is the EU building an army against migrants?

In any case, it creates a paramilitary force. The European Commission also has 30,000 employees and is responsible for the entire range of tasks within the Union. Frontex, on the other hand, only cares about borders.

The text was provided to "nd" by the left-wing Italian daily newspaper "Il Manifesto", with which we cooperate.

These figures show the central political importance that has been given to the agency. It acts like a police department without being legally classified as such. Otherwise, she would have to comply with procedures and obligations. Instead, it works outside of a clearly regulated liability and responsibility framework.

It is never clear who is responsible: Frontex or the member states. It is a huge problem, which has been made clear in the only two judgments of the European Court of Justice to date on Frontex.

Last December, judges in Luxembourg ruled that the only way to defend themselves against human rights violations by Frontex is to sue for damages.

This is extremely serious - firstly because it is a retrospective remedy and secondly because it does not solve the problem of violation of absolute rights such as the principle of non-refoulement or the right to life.

Judging from the proposed Article 7 of the new Frontex Regulation, the question of responsibility remains unresolved - even though the Commission itself described it as extremely problematic. This means that no one will continue to be held responsible for deaths at sea.

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