Commission proposes strengthening Frontex: stronger border protection, a bigger role in returns and a more effective crisis response

Today, the European Commission proposes to further strengthen Frontex, boosting its capacity to protect the external borders and making it the EU's central actor on returns. The EU has made significant progress on migration: irregular border crossings have halved over the past two years and the return rate has risen to over 30%. Even so, our common external borders are being tested by a changed geopolitical and security environment that calls for a stronger and more effective European response. Frontex already plays a key role in supporting Member States in managing Europe's external borders and protecting the Schengen area. The new rules will build on this role, further strengthening the agency's mandate, allowing it to act faster and more effectively, and making it easier for Member States to make full use of its tools and services. Key novelties include a strengthened standing corps, including a new European border and return reserve; a rapid reaction force to intervene in crises; and a new online monitoring centre for early detection of potential threats at our borders. Frontex will have a dedicated return coordination centre and will now be able to help carry out returns from third countries. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "Europe will always defend its borders. Europe decides who comes to our Union and under what circumstances. That is why today we are proposing to strengthen Frontex, so that it can support Member States whenever and wherever needed. Including on returns, with the mandate and capacities that this new reality requires." To make the new EU return rules operational, the Commission is also proposing a regulation to digitalise return, readmission and reintegration. It will simplify and speed up return management across the EU, reduce administrative burden and provide a single digital interface for the whole return process. Today's proposals deliver on the commitments announced in the 2024-2029 political guidelines and repeated by President von der Leyen in this year's State of the Union speech, to strengthen Frontex and in particular to speed up returns. A new Frontex regulation Member States are primarily responsible for border protection and for returning people with no right to stay. Today's proposal will ensure a 360-degree approach for Frontex to assist them in this responsibility: Frontex will be able to anticipate challenges faster and provide tailored support to Member States where and when they need it. The regulation sets three priorities. 1. Pooled resources and operational capacity. Frontex pools resources, expertise and operational capacity that no Member State could sustain alone. To ensure a high and consistent standard of border control across the Union, the Commission proposes to gradually increase Frontex's standing corps to 30,000 officers by creating a new "European border and return reserve" of 17,000 officers who remain at Member States' disposal and can be deployed when needed. This comes on top of doubling Frontex's own staff and the 7,000 existing staff already seconded from Member States. Frontex will also have easier access to state-of-the-art equipment and technology: it will be able to purchase, lease and co-own equipment and to carry out, coordinate or take part in joint procurement with Member States, including as a central purchasing body for digital and AI-based tools. 2. Stronger on returns. Frontex will take a more proactive and strategic role in steering return operations at EU level, maximising the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of its support. A dedicated return coordination centre will collect and analyse operational information and support planning and coordination, with Frontex support covering the whole return process, from early identification and voluntary return counselling to carrying out return operations and providing reintegration assistance. Frontex will also be able to support third countries on returns, with both technical and operational support, and to help organise and carry out return operations from one third country to another, subject to an agreement with the third country concerned and in line with fundamental rights and international standards. 3. An effective crisis response. Frontex will be able to help detect dangerous trends early and to step in quickly in an emergency or crisis, a lesson learned from this year's crisis in Ceuta. This includes a dedicated online monitoring and response centre, with an explicit Frontex mandate to monitor publicly accessible content on social media platforms, detect developments relevant to external border management and support action against illegal online content linked to border security risks; a rapid reaction force to be deployed at the external border at very short notice to help Member States address any crisis or emergency quickly, with the deployment decision taken by Frontex's Executive Director following a request from a Member State facing an emergency; and better information-sharing in crises, including an obligation for Member States to report events with a potentially significant impact on EU borders within 24 hours in the dedicated EUROSUR network. Digitalising returns Alongside the Frontex proposal, and following the entry into force of the new Return Regulation on 16 October, the Commission proposes a new regulation to digitalise return, readmission and reintegration procedures across the EU. The aim is to modernise return case management, simplify and speed up administrative procedures through digitalisation, reduce administrative burden and improve data collection and exchange. The new rules will also strengthen Frontex's role in developing a new EU digital architecture for Member States and support the new Return Regulation, while respecting data protection standards and fundamental rights. Next steps It is now up to the European Parliament and the Council to agree on the proposals. The Commission will support the co-legislators in moving forward with negotiations on both regulations. Background Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, is a decentralised agency that has, since 2005, supported EU Member States and Schengen-associated countries in managing the EU's external borders and fighting cross-border crime, as well as in returning third-country nationals with no right to stay in the EU. Frontex also plays a key role in search and rescue operations, supporting Member States in saving lives at sea. The current Frontex Regulation entered into force in 2019. Since then, Frontex's role has grown continuously in light of the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and attempts to use migration as a weapon at the EU's external borders. Frontex always works with full respect for fundamental rights and human dignity, which are built into its mandate and operations.