The European Commission has proposed new rules to expand Frontex, the EU’s border agency, including a bigger force of officers, a stronger role in returning people without the right to stay, and new tools for responding to crises.
Frontex supports EU countries and Schengen-associated states in managing the EU’s external borders and tackling cross-border crime, as well as helping coordinate the return of non-EU nationals with no legal right to remain, the Commission noted in a statement on Tuesday.
Illegal border crossings have more than halved over the past two years, and the return rate has risen to over 30%, it said.
Under the proposal, Frontex’s standing corps would gradually increase to 30,000 officers, including a new “European Border and Return Reserve” of 17,000 officers who would remain at the disposal of member states and be deployed when needed.
The Commission also proposed giving Frontex wider powers to acquire, lease and co-own equipment, and to take part in joint procurement with member states, including for digital and AI-enabled tools.
More coordination on returns and faster crisis deployment
The plans would give Frontex a dedicated Return Coordination Centre to collect and analyse operational information and help plan and co-ordinate return operations across the EU, the Commission said.
Frontex would also be able to support return operations involving third countries — including helping to organise and carry out returns from one non-EU country to another — where an agreement is in place with the country concerned.
For crises at the EU’s external borders, the Commission proposed creating a Quick Reaction Force that could be deployed at short notice, with a deployment decision taken by Frontex’s executive director following a request from a member state facing an emergency.
The proposal also includes an Online Monitoring and Response Centre with a mandate for Frontex to monitor publicly accessible social media content for developments relevant to external border management, and to support action against illegal online content linked to border-security risks.
Alongside the Frontex changes, the Commission proposed a separate regulation to digitalise “return, readmission and reintegration” case management across the EU, including a single digital interface for the process.
“Europe decides who comes to our Union and under what circumstances,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated.
The proposals will now be negotiated by the European Parliament and EU member states in the Council.
