Brussels
is to propose the creation of a standing European border force that
could take control of the bloc’s external frontiers — even if a
government objected.
The
move would arguably represent the biggest transfer of sovereignty
since the creation of the single currency.
EU
plans border force to police external frontiers
Duncan Robinson and
Alex Barker in Brussels
December 10, 2015
6:37 pm
Against the backdrop
of a crisis that has seen 1.2m migrants reach Europe this year, the
European Commission will unveil plans next week to replace the
Frontex border agency with a permanent border force and coastguard —
deployed with the final say of the commission, according to EU
officials and documents seen by the Financial Times.
The blueprint
represents a last-ditch attempt to save the Schengen passport-free
travel zone, by introducing the kind of common border policing
repeatedly demanded by Paris and Berlin. Britain and Ireland have
opt-outs from EU migration policy, and would not be obliged to take
part in the scheme.
European leaders
have discussed a common border force for more than 15 years, but
always struggled to overcome deep-seated objections to yielding
national powers to monitor or enforce borders — one of the core
functions of a sovereign state. Greece, for instance, only recently
agreed to accept EU offers to send border teams, after months of
wrangling over their remit.
Systemic weaknesses
in the Schengen Area agreement were laid bare by this year’s
massive influx of migrants, many of them unregistered, into the EU
through Greece and Italy. Concerns came to a head after last month’s
terrorist attacks in Paris, when it transpired that at least some of
the assailants came to Europe from Syria via Greece.
Why Brussels wants
to man Europe’s borders
Migrants and
refugees, who spent the night outdoors, are escorted by Slovenian
soldiers and police officers as they walk towards a refugee camp
after crossing the Croatian-Slovenian border near Rigonce, Slovenia,
on October 26, 2015
Plan sets stage for
epic political fight over the price of keeping the Schengen area
alive
One of the most
contentious elements of the regulation would hand the commission the
power to authorise a deployment to a frontier, on the recommendation
of the management board of the newly formed European Border and Coast
Guard. This would also apply to non-EU members of Schengen, such as
Norway. Although member states would be consulted, they would not
have the power to veto a deployment unilaterally.
Dimitris
Avramopoulos, who is responsible for EU migration policy, said: “The
refugee crisis has shown the limitations of the current EU border
agency, Frontex, to effectively address and remedy the situation
created by . . . the pressure on Europe’s external borders.”
He said the EBCG
would be a way to “protect and strengthen Schengen”.
Officials argued
that the proposals were legal under an article in the EU treaty that
allows “the gradual introduction of an integrated management system
for external borders” — a form of wording some diplomats saw as
precluding full centralisation of border forces.
Schengen map
Frontex, the EU
border agency that will be replaced by the new border guard, was
hamstrung by a mandate that allowed it only to “co-ordinate” the
protection of borders, rather than enforce them itself.
These limits have
become obvious during the migration crisis. The Warsaw-based agency
was not allowed to purchase its own equipment, nor directly employ
its own border guards: it came to rely on pledges from member states,
which often failed to materialise.
It also did not have
a mandate to conduct search-and-rescue missions, severely hampering
efforts to assist refugees in the Mediterranean earlier this year.
If the plan is
approved by EU states, Frontex’s replacement will have a slew of
new powers, including the ability to hire and control its own border
guards and buy its own equipment. It will also be allowed to operate
in non-EU countries — such as Serbia and Macedonia, which have
become transit countries for people trying to reach northern Europe —
if requested.
The new agency will
be able to deport people who do not have the right to remain in
Europe — a power Frontex lacked.
It will also be able
to call on a pool of border guards set aside by member states in
reserve, as well as its own guards. The new border force, if
approved, will be subject to the national laws of the member states
in which it operates.
National capitals
will retain day-to-day control of their borders, but the new agency
will be able to monitor their efforts and step in if it feels the
protection on offer is inadequate.
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