Frontex exceeding its powers
12.10.2016
Question for written answer E-007704-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Petr Mach (EFDD)
According to publicly available information, Frontex is conducting ‘rescue’ operations off the North African (particularly the Libyan) coast, searching for boats and vessels containing refugees and then transferring them to EU territory. In view of this, can the Commission answer the following questions:
- 1.At what distance from the African coast are these ‘rescue’ operations conducted?
- 2.On what legal basis is Frontex acting in this way?
I would contend that Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004 of 26 October 2004 establishing a European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union contains, in Article 2, an exhaustive list of the main tasks to be performed by Frontex, and that none of the provisions of Council Regulation No 2007/2004 empowers Frontex to act in the above manner.
3. Does the Commission not consider that picking up refugees from non-EU Member State waters runs counter to Frontex’s primary objective of protecting the external borders of the EU and combatting illegal immigration?