Frontex not trying to take powers from EU states: chief

Pulse News Agency International by AFP

January 22, 2019 7:13 PM

The head of Frontex, Europe's border control and coastguard agency, on Tuesday denied suggestions that a push to beef up its numbers would undermine the sovereignty of EU member states.

Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri argues that extra staff could be used to help member states 'on an ad-hoc and seasonal basis' when required

Executive director Fabrice Leggeri put the fears expressed by some EU countries down to a misunderstanding of proposals put forward by the European Commission.

Those plans involved more staff and a bigger budget, but no change in the division of powers between Frontex and EU member states, he told AFP.

"The EU members are sovereign states and it's obviously on these terms that the Frontex agency and the member states cooperate," he said.

Several southern Mediterranean states -- Greece, Italy and Spain -- have expressed concern at the deployment of more Frontex staff on the EU's external borders.

Poland and the Czech Republic are also concerned that funds diverted to Frontex would leave less EU money for spending on their infrastructure.

But Leggeri stressed that Frontex would only operate on a country's borders with that country's consent.

A European Commission proposal to set up a European Corps of up to 10,000 border and coast guards would provide relief to countries struggling to cope with migration levels, he said.

"There is a shortage of 5,000 according to the various national authorities' own figures," he added.

"The agency could use 5,000 border guards in a pretty flexible manner to back the member states on an ad-hoc and sometimes seasonal basis when they require it."

In 2018, Frontex used 435 flights to send back some 14,000 foreign nationals in Europe illegally to 60 countries, said Leggeri.

The Warsaw-based agency is busy recruiting more staff and hopes to bring its numbers there up from its current level, at 650, to 1,250 by 2021.

It has a budget of up to 150 million euros ($170 million) for a new, purpose-built headquarters on a three-hectare (7.4 acre) site in the Polish capital.

Pulse News Agency International by AFP