Warsaw 22 May 2012 - Frontex has sent its response to the European Ombudsman’s enquiry related to the integration of respect of fundamental rights into the performance of its tasks.
The Frontex Executive Director, Ilkka Laitinen, noted that Frontex, from the very beginning of its work, took the respect of fundamental rights as a sine qua non in the performance of all its tasks, and particularly its joint operations and that, as its operations have become more complex and challenging in recent years, Frontex quickly recognised the need for clear Fundamental Rights and other guidelines for all those taking part in the activities it organises. While noting that responsibility for border control and respect of fundamental rights in its execution remains the exclusive competence of Member States, Frontex has made considerable effort to ensure that all its activities and staff not only respect but promote fundamental rights.
‘For this reason we developed a Fundamental Rights strategy and related Action Plan, commissioned an external study on the Ethics of Border Security, and developed a binding Code of Conduct for staff and guest officers participating in our activities – all well before the amendment of the Frontex regulation’ noted the Executive Director.
‘These initiatives were consulted with key partners such as FRA, UNHCR and IOM on the basis of Working Arrangements that were signed early on in the development of our agency’ – he continued.
The amended Frontex Regulation, which entered into force at the end of 2011, mandates the creation of a number of further mechanisms to ensure the full respect of fundamental rights by the Agency. The most important among them are the creation of the position of independent Fundamental Rights Officer reporting directly to the Frontex Management Board, the Consultative Forum (composed of fundamental rights organisations and institutional partners) that will provide strategic Fundamental Rights advice to the Agency, and the development of a mechanism for suspending or terminating joint operations in the event of serious or persistent violations of Fundamental Rights.
Frontex has been working hard on all these issues since late last year. The position of the Fundamental Rights Officer is currently advertised on the Frontex website and will close soon; invitations to join the Consultative Forum will be issued in the near future after a public call for interest; and a “Frontex Standard Operating Procedure to ensure respect of Fundamental Rights in joint operations and pilot projects” has already been drafted and will be approved shortly.