EP Committee adopts report on Frontex

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament has adopted a report by Spanish MEP Javier Moreno Sanchez on the EU external borders agency, Frontex.

The report features a series of amendments tabled by MEP Simon Busuttil deriving from the agency's experience in the Mediterranean and aimed at improving its effectiveness and performance.

Dr Busuttil's amendments call for Frontex missions in the Mediterranean to be carried out on a permanent and uninterrupted basis.

On his recommendation, the report criticises EU countries for failing to provide the necessary assets for the agency to deploy in its missions - for instance, Malta and Italy deployed the key assets used in the Nautilus mission with little support from other EU countries.

The report calls for an increase in assets, especially surface assets, along with a guarantee that they would truly be made available in a timely manner. Moreover, it also called for full information on which EU countries were providing assets and which ones were not.

On Dr Busuttil’s recommendation, the report calls for further efforts to secure more cooperation with other countries, such as Libya, saying that agreements should include readmission and returns.

It says that Frontex should increase cooperation with Europol and other European agencies as well as border control authorities in break international trafficking.

Dr Busuttil said he was pleased that the committee took on board his amendments based on the experience of Frontex in the Mediterranean. He said that the success of Frontex in the Canary Islands needed to be replicated in the Mediterranean.

MEP Simon Busuttil is EPP-ED spokesperson on the FRONTEX agency and European Parliament rapporteur on a European Common Immigration policy.