MEPs fear fundamental rights at risk as EU plans to expand Frontex powers

Members of the European Parliament have voiced concern that fundamental rights could suffer if the mandate of Frontex, the European Union's border agency, is expanded. The objections came on Wednesday at a meeting of Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, where European Commission migration commissioner Magnus Brunner took questions.

What the plans involve

Last week Brunner presented a plan for a sweeping overhaul of Frontex. The agency would take charge of a broad range of tasks, from strategic planning and pooling resources for cost-efficient returns to support for the reintegration of returnees. Frontex could also help non-EU countries carry out deportations from their own territory.

Decisions on returns would still be taken by member state authorities, but the agency would become responsible for return-related support "from the beginning to the end," the commissioner told the committee. He also confirmed that Frontex could help deport people from EU countries to hubs in countries outside the bloc, and from those hubs on to third countries.

Lawmakers' concerns

Centrist and left-leaning MEPs warned that the wider mandate would increase the risk of fundamental rights violations. Tineke Strik, a Dutch Green MEP, asked how it would be guaranteed that Frontex complies with EU law when it must obey the laws of third countries with a completely different legal framework. In her view, this approach clearly raises the risk of rights violations.

Murielle Laurent, a French Socialists and Democrats MEP, asked to what extent Europe can externalise its migration policy while also externalising its human rights defence policy. She said a more powerful EU agency needs more careful oversight.

The commissioner's response

Brunner insisted that Frontex already has to meet firm fundamental rights obligations and that these would remain under the Commission's plans. He said the agency would assist non-EU countries with returns only under an international agreement setting out fundamental rights safeguards, and that Parliament would have to approve any such agreement.