Frontex, in association with the Academy of European Law (ERA) is pleased to announce the upcoming conference “The Feasibility of a European System of Border Guards (ESBG): A Practitioners Perspective.” The event will be held in Warsaw between the 28-29th October, 2013 and will gather together various agency and departmental stakeholders as well as representatives from national border authorities across Europe. Together, they will debate the merits such a system would entail as well as its practical/legal obstacles.
The feasibility of the creation of a European System of Border Guards (ESBG), as indicated in the Stockholm Programme, is closely linked to the debate on the long-term development of Frontex and, as such, will influence its future as an EU Agency. This conference aims to provide input to the debate on the feasibility of a European System of Border Guards by looking, from a practitioner’s point of view, at the added value that such a system could bring. By focusing the discussion around different aspects such as the legal framework, the operational challenges, the necessary capacities as well as interagency cooperation - different stakeholders will be able to provide their views on the feasibility of an ESBG, notably which gaps it would fill, and what shape it should take - if any.
Key Topics to be discussed:
- Legal perspectives and possibilities under the Treaty of Lisbon for an ESBG.
- Options for enhanced operational coordination and integration of national border control operations.
- A more European approach in the development of national border management capacities.
- Integrated Border Management (IBM) with a focus on new avenues for cooperation with other agencies and bodies that would ensure more efficient cooperation at the EU’s external borders.