Communication on ‘A European Border and Coast Guard and effective management of Europe’s external borders’

Author (Corporate)
Series Details COM (2015) 673
Publication Date 15/12/2015
Content Type

Summary:

Communication - published by the European Commission in December 2015 - which accompanies the package of legislative initiatives related to the protection of the European Union's Schengen area and external borders.

Further information:

The decision to share a common internal area of free movement - the Schengen area - comes with a shared responsibility to provide high and consistent standards of border management and security at the external borders. The migration crisis in 2015 put to test citizens' confidence in the EU's ability to manage common external borders, and exposed weaknesses and gaps in existing border management mechanisms, which proved insufficient to guarantee effective and integrated border management. Some Member States were not able to ensure effective border control and the identification and registration of irregular migrants. The limitations of Frontex were also shown - inadequate resources in terms of staff and equipment, an inability to initiate and carry out return or border management operations and the absence of an explicit role to conduct search and rescue operations.

The Commission's European Agenda on Migration identified the need to move to a shared management of the external borders, in line with Article 77 (TFEU). In his annual State of the Union address, the President of the European Commission announced steps in this respect before the end of the year in the form of a fully operational European Border and Coast Guard, as was subsequently confirmed in the annual Commission Work Programme.

This Communication set out a unified policy on the management of the EU's external borders based on the principle of shared responsibility. A permanent integrated sysren for border management aims at ensuring the EU and its Member States are prepared in face of exceptional situations at the external borders and able to react effectively and in time should they arise. This is underpinned by a crisis prevention mechanism relying on constant monitoring of the capacities of the Member States, including through regular risk analysis.

The legislative package include:

Source Link Link to Main Source http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2015:673:FIN
Related Links
Official
European Commission: Press Release, 15/12/2015: A European Border and Coast Guard to protect Europe's External Borders http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-6327_en.htm
European Commission: Fact Sheet, 15/12/2015: European Agenda on Migration: Securing Europe's External Borders http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-6332_en.htm
European Commission: Speaking points by Commissioner Avramopoulos - Borders Package, 15 December 2015 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-15-6342_en.htm

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