A European Border and Coast Guard system badly needed

Tomorrow, the European Commission is going to present a European Border and Coast Guard Package. The Commission thinks that this border coast guard (Frontex) should operate jointly with national border authorities to the extent that they carry out border controls jointly. The EPP Group fully supports this and where a Member State doesn't fulfil its obligations in the control of its external borders, then the European border guard presence in that Member State would be imposed. There is a real need for integrated border management at the external borders with a view to managing migration effectively and ensuring a high level of internal security within the EU. 

Manfred Weber, Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament said:

"Drastically strengthening EU external border controls and guaranteeing safe borders are preliminary conditions to make it possible for EU Member States to get the refugee crisis under control. Not every migrant who comes to Europe can actually stay in Europe. The European external border agency Frontex should therefore be adapted to become a real European border and coastguard. This means that Frontex should have its own operational units and its own capacities. Additionally, when a Member State is not able to control its external borders, Europe should be able to take over this responsibility for sections of the border. The fact that some EU Member States are not able to fulfil their duty of securing their external borders, as foreseen by the Treaties, is utterly unacceptable. Unfortunately, too much time has been wasted waiting for the Member States to take action."

The European Parliament is going to debate this Commission proposal tomorrow afternoon.