Members of the EP committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) have an Exchange of views on FRONTEX. Opening statements by Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR (S&D,ES), LIBE Chair, by Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs. This transcription speech is the result of an automatic process. Check against delivery.

Brussels

exchange of views

meeting

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

LÓPEZ AGUILAR, Juan Fernando (S&D, ES)

death of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea (T)

Frontex

surveillance of the external borders of the EU (T)

LEGGERI, Fabrice (FR)

JOHANSSON, Ylva (SE, EC)

GAŠPERLIN, Marko (SI)

Exchange of views on FRONTEX - Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs: Opening statements by Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR (S&D,ES), LIBE Chair and by Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs

SOUNDBITE (Original), Juan Fernando L&Oacute;PEZ AGUILAR (S&amp;D, ES), Good afternoon, everybody, and thank you for being here. Those members who have made it in the room warmly welcome. And we also welcome most warmly Commissioner Ylva Johansson. And Director Fabrice Leggeri, along with Mr. Marko Gasperlin, executive director and Frontex management board, chairperson excuse me, and the executive director is Mr Fabrice Leggeri.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR (S&D, ES), Let's let's get started. This afternoon, I announced this morning we had a we had a very intense exchange of views with Commissioner Reynders and a number of points to go through. But no less important is this point in the order today of this early afternoon, 13.45. We have one hour, 15 minutes to go through. Not much, but let's make the best of it.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR (S&D, ES), November 2019, European Parliament approved the new European border and Coast Guard regulation strengthens the agency by further supplying staff technical equipment. New mandate came into force December 2019, we're seeing a new stunning core of at least 10000 operational staff and by 27, they should be established gradually.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR (S&D, ES), The new regulation also steps towards an increased political accountability involving the European Parliament and national parliaments, like enhancing preventive function. The agency has not insured by December the 5th. Putting in place at least 40 fundamental rights monitors to be recorded in accordance to the regulation.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR (S&D, ES), In October 2020, there's been an investigation by media outlets on the activities of the agency in Greece, revealing human rights violations and pushbacks in the agency with the alleged involvement of Frontex management board has set up a working group to investigate these allegations. The European Parliament has established a working group on Frontex scrutiny, chaired by Mrs. Roberta Metsola, our colleague.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR (S&D, ES), In their Conclusions Management Boards Working Group, identified deficiencies in the monitoring and reporting system of Frontex suggesting further necessary improvement. Let's hear now first from the Commission. The Commission's views on the operation of the new mandate. It'll be about seven minutes, if you please. And then we will be having questions and answers from the members first round.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR (S&D, ES), And then we will be hearing from Marko Gasperlin, the Frontex management board chair and Mr. Leggeri himself, who is also here, we appreciate you being here physically present, flesh and blood, that's good for us and good for the discussion we're about to undertake. So let's hear first, as I said, from our Commissioner Johansson and then the questions and answers and it will be followed by the Frontex representatives. Floor goes to you Ylva.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Thank you very much. And thank you for this opportunity. I think it's very good that we have this discussion here in LIBE. The European Union need to protect, we need to protect our external borders and to have a good and well functioning border management. Its fundamental prerequisite to form an area of freedom, security and justice within the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, To stop drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, organised criminal groups, security threats, and to manage migration and to prevent unlawful entry. It's important for Schengen, for internal security and migration management. Frontex has an extremely important role to play here. And in all these areas, we need to perform more and better together.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, That's why we all together have tasked Frontex to grow rapidly and have been given a new mandate with the new regulation that was adopted two years ago and came into force almost at the same date when I took office as Commissioner. And I think that this is a really important and I do hope that we share the necessity that Frontex has a very good way to functioning and has used this strong and reinforced mandate.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, In my view, Frontex not only the most important agency in my portfolio, in my view, it's the most important agency in the whole European Union and it's going to be by far the biggest one. And of course, with power and funding comes also responsibility and safeguards and scrutiny. I think that we all know that protecting borders is not an easy task, is not a walk in the park, it's important, of course, difficult and sometimes dangerous task that requires a high level of professionality at all levels.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, I think it should not surprise anybody that in these operations at borders, you should be prepared to deal with reports of serious incidents. You could be alleged for misconduct or alleged pushbacks for example. This can come from inside organisation. It can comes from NGOs, from media, from member states, but it could also come from third countries. Would that have its own agenda?

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, And I know you all are aware that there were alleged pushbacks, arms coming in late October and saying that Frontex should have taken part in these kind of activities. And now there have been a thorough process in the management board and in the working group, under the management board to clarify all this. And I think that's very good. But I must also say that it should not take so long time to clarify these kind of incident.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, I think that during this period, the agency has actually been at least risk suffering its reputation for having such a long period to clarify these things. I think what's also important here is that we know and the lights have been put on some shortcomings in the agency that now, of course, urgently need to be addressed.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, The management board says insist in this report, their report, that they noted with concern that the reporting systems currently in place are not systematically applied, that this system does not allow the agency to have a clear picture of the facts relating to potential serious incidents and do not allow for systematic analysis of fundamental rights concerns. The agency needs to make urgent improvement in this aspect.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Their working group also points out to the need that the agency need a newly introduced culture in which failure is acknowledged and addressed in order to create awareness of an sensitiveness towards possible misconduct. And of course, I think that these are important conclusions, and I think also that it would have been better if all the senior management staff that should have been in place would have been in place according to the regulation.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, And I'm talking about the permanent fundamental rights officer, about the three deputy executive directors that are not in place, and also the 40 fundamental rights monitors that also should have been in place earlier. I think it would have been easier to deal with these kind of things if this has been in place earlier. But I must say, I welcome that we discuss shortcomings because in my view, transparency is the best way to make a stronger and more effective agency.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, And I'm fully convinced I must stress this, that both the executive director and the management board now are ready to address and already have started to address these shortcomings. Thank you.