Frontex welcomes today’s vote by the European Parliament on the regulation that will create the European Border and Coast Guard Agency on the foundation laid by Frontex, which has helped to coordinate cooperation at the EU’s external borders for more than a decade.
“I am very pleased about today’s vote by the Parliament. While the new regulation still has to be approved by the Council of the European Union, we have already started intensive preparations for its implementation,” said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri.
The key goals for the new European Border and Coast Guard Agency are to: ensure the implementation of integrated border management at EU level, oversee an effective functioning of border control at the external borders, provide increased operational and technical assistance to EU Member States, support search and rescue operations and play an enhanced role in returns.
The text of the regulation must be translated into all EU official languages before the European Parliament votes on the final version. The last step is the adoption of the document by the Council of the EU and publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
“The transition from Frontex into the European Border and Coast Guard Agency will be a gradual one – some of the tasks proposed in the text of the regulation are new, while others constitute an expansion of the existing ones. This means that some elements can be implemented quickly, while others require more time. I must stress that we are not alone in the implementation of this regulation – we have to work closely with a wide range of partners including border and coast guard authorities in the EU Member States, other EU agencies as well as non-EU countries. We have a tremendous task ahead of us,” Leggeri said.