Second report on the operationalisation of the European Border and Coast Guard

Protecting the external borders of the European Union, including through the European Border and Coast Guard, is one of the key pillars of the comprehensive European policy on migration on which the European Union is delivering in order to address the immediate, medium as well as long term needs identified in the European Agenda on Migration.

The European Border and Coast Guard follows the concept and principles of integrated border management and brings together, in the spirit of shared responsibility, a robust European border agency with the border guard authorities of the Member States, including coast guards to the extent that they carry out border control tasks. The primary role and competence of the Member States in reinforcing the control of the external borders, on the basis of their own existing capacities of more than 100,000 border and coast guard officers, is essential to achieve this objective.

The protection of external borders is the prerequisite for the normal functioning of the Schengen area without internal borders. The joint investment and engagement in ensuring the European Border and Coast Guard becomes fully operational as quickly as possible, are a practical expression of the commitment of Member States to share responsibility and demonstrate solidarity in the common interest.

The present report takes stock of the progress made since the first report in January 2017. It also identifies the next steps all stakeholders need to take to ensure that the European Border and Coast Guard is fully operationalised as soon as possible. The Agency's Management Board plays a particularly important role. It is the forum where the political priority given to the operationalisation of the European Border and Coast Guard should be translated to concrete actions on practical issues such as filling the gaps in deployments to ongoing joint operations or pools.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Commission publishes implementation reports on EU's approach on migration http://www.europeansources.info/record/commission-publishes-implementation-reports-on-eus-approach-on-migration/

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