On the borderline

Frontex only started operating in October 2005 and it wouldbe fair to state that it has had to hit the ground running, well before itlearnt how to walk. It was entrusted with the thankless task of getting EUcountries to cooperate in the management of their external borders. And thiswas at the time when the wave of immigration from Africawas becoming a growing concern for public opinion.

So far, it has not lived up to expectations. But this is notto say that it has failed. On the contrary, despite its limited experience andsignificant constraints, Frontex has already made a difference. And given theproper direction and resources, it can do more. Let there be no mistake.Without Frontex, the number of immigrants landing in the Canary Islands, Malta,Lampedusa and other parts of southern EU countries would have been far greaterin number. The debate on Frontex needs to be put in a proper perspective, as weneed a clear understanding on what we want from this agency and how we can getit. Let me highlight a few points that need to be ironed out. At the outset,there is some confusion over who should do what. The policing of externalborders is a responsibility that lies with individual countries. Frontex doesnot have the responsibility, let alone the means, to do this. Suffice it torecall that individual countries, particularly large countries, dedicatesubstantial financial and military resources to secure their external borders.Frontex has no equipment of its own, no navy and no air force. So thinking thatFrontex can take over this responsibility is not realistic and will not get usanywhere.

On the other hand, however, it is equally true that externalborders are increasingly becoming a matter of common concern. Take the Schengenfree-movement zone. This zone created a huge internal space of free movementamong 24 countries. But this implies that whenever a person illegally breachesan external border of one of the Schengen countries, he or she is then free tomove around, throughout the entire zone. It stands to reason, therefore, thatthe external borders of the Schengen countries cannot remain the sole concernof individual countries but must become a common concern of all of them. Sofar, for reasons of sovereignty, EU countries have been ditching theinevitability of a common external borders policy. But, as always in Europe, sooner or later reality will catch up with them.And when that happens, common action on common borders will increasingly makesense.

All this calls for a rethink of the role of Frontex. Adebate must start in earnest over what exactly it should be doing and how. Andits tasks should better match the expectations that have been piled on to it.In February this year the European commission published its initial views onFrontex and the European parliament will now be responding. In so doing, we needto be open-minded on what, as it were, we would like Frontex to do when itgrows up. And whilst we debate the future remit of the agency, we must alsoensure that, in the present, it does its best to get everyone together tosupport those countries that are facing difficulties. Migratory pressures areparticularly burdensome on the southern EU countries, such as Malta, Greeceand Spain.Frontex is currently resuming its missions in different parts of Europe and because it now has more resources – the Europeanparliament doubled its budget for this year – it can commit itself to more andlonger missions. These missions will not deliver quick-fix solutions but theydo mitigate the difficulties and act as a deterrent by transmitting theall-important message that Europe is not afree-for-all. And they also compel EU countries to help each other out – takingEU solidarity beyond the idea of providing financial support. This is not achallenge that we can sort out by throwing money at it.

Frontex is not a panacea and it has yet no answer to somesticky questions, for instance, on burden-sharing. All countries agree on theobvious duty to save lives at sea. There is no question about that. But on thequestion of who takes the people whose lives have been saved, there is still adeafening silence. Last year, we witnessed incidents of immigrants clinging totuna nets in Libyan waters until EU countries argued over who should take them.Is there one single country that is obliged to take them? Or should the burdenbe shared amongst all? The sooner we pluck up enough courage to address thesequestions, the better.

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