The European Commission wants Frontex to grow into an organization with 30,000 employees. To achieve this, the permanent staff must be expanded, and a new European border and return unit of 17,000 employees will be established. This unit will be built up over fifteen years. So, this is not an immediate increase of 30,000 personnel.
Also Outside the EU
Frontex must be able to operate outside the EU from now on. The agency will gain the ability to assist non-EU countries in returning migrants to their country of origin, even when those migrants have never entered European territory. Frontex must also support deportations from return centers outside the EU.
This gives Frontex a greater role in European return policy. Within the organization, a special coordination center will be set up to organize deportations. However, the proposal does not automatically make Frontex responsible for the daily management or surveillance of return centers, although "surveillance" is among the new capabilities.
Intervention
The Commission mainly wants to ensure that more migrants without residence rights actually leave. According to Commissioner Magnus Brunner, currently only about 32 percent of rejected asylum seekers actually return. Therefore, Frontex must take a central role in organizing and executing return operations.
Additionally, Frontex will have a special intervention force that can be deployed within 24 hours during sudden border crises. The events in the Spanish enclave Ceuta in Morocco, where large numbers of migrants crossed the border last summer, are cited as an example of the need to respond more rapidly to such situations.
Intelligence Service
For the expansion, the Commission wants to make significantly more funding available. Frontex must also be able to more easily acquire modern equipment, surveillance tools, and new technology. A new type of intelligence service will monitor public social media posts to detect potential problems at the European external borders early.
Frontex will also have the ability to act against illegal online content that poses risks to border security. The agency can warn internet platforms and request national authorities to take measures. At the same time, the expansion raises criticism as it is reported that the powers of European human rights oversight are being limited.
European ICE
Dutch Member of the European Parliament Tineke Strik of the Greens warns that Frontex risks turning into a European version of the U.S. immigration agency ICE. The proposals are not yet final. The governments of EU countries and the European Parliament still have to take a position on the new powers.
