Europeupdated 1h ago2 min read
Archive photo · 30 January 2018European Commission Proposes Expanding Frontex Deportation Powers, Tripling Workforce To 30,000
“operate outside the bloc”
“it will now be able to help carry out returns from third countries.”
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
European Commission proposes expanding Frontex powers to deport irregular migrants, including cross-border removals. Frontex workforce to about 30,000, with a reserve of 17,000 personnel.
Frontex gets return powers
The European Commission proposed expanding Frontex’s powers to allow the agency to deport irregular migrants and to take a central role in organising the removal of people who have no legal right to remain in the European Union, while also establishing a reserve force of 17,000 personnel ready to be deployed when needed.
The Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed, "Europe will always stand up for the protection of its borders. Europe decides who enters our Union and under what conditions," as the plan would nearly triple Frontex’s workforce to 30,000 personnel.
The proposal would give Frontex a dedicated Return Coordination Centre to help EU member states plan and coordinate deportation operations, and it would include a rapid response unit and a new online monitoring centre for monitoring social media.
The European Commission also proposed that Frontex be able to help carry out returns from third countries, including deportations between non-EU countries subject to a corresponding agreement with the third country concerned.
Ceuta drives the timeline
The Reuters account tied the proposal to the aftermath of the massive rush to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last summer, saying the plan would broaden Frontex’s mandate to carry out deportations between non-EU countries and deploy rapid-reaction teams in emergencies. Magnus Brunner told reporters, "Today we propose that Frontex becomes the central EU actor on returns," and he added that it would be able to act faster with a quick reaction force that can deploy within 24 hours.
The plan envisaged gradually expanding Frontex’s standing corps to 30,000 officers by creating a new "European border and return reserve" of 17,000 officers by 2041, while the Commission proposed allocating €11.8 billion to Frontex for the EU’s 2028-2034 budget cycle. The Copenhagen Post described the same direction of travel, saying the European Commission proposed expanding the personnel available to Frontex to 30,000 and giving it a larger role in deportations, with a reserve of 17,000 personnel that could be deployed when needed.
Oversight and rights at stake
Reuters reported that the proposal would narrow the scope of Frontex’s internal rights watchdog by referring complaints to national authorities to handle, even as the plan broadened Frontex’s role beyond EU territory.
Tineke Strik said, "Working with third countries, without proper oversight or accountability, is a threat to fundamental rights and respect for international law," and she added that the Commission was "pandering to populism and the far right on migration."
Euronews said the reforms would likely provoke a backlash from civil society organisations and described a researcher, Josephine Solanki, warning, "It's no longer only an agency supporting EU countries at their borders. [...] It's a deportation agency, increasingly operating far away from the actual border of the EU," ahead of the reform.
Euronews also reported that any cooperation with a third country would require a specific agreement with the country concerned, and it said the EU was negotiating an agreement with Senegal while a Frontex liaison officer for Senegal, whose expanded mandate also covers Mauritania and Gambia, was appointed in 2023.
