Frontex welcomes the establishment of Management Board Working Group on Fundamental Rights and Operations

The Executive Director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) has welcomed the establishment of a Management Board Working Group on Fundamental Rights and Legal and Operational Aspects of Operations, following recent media reports of violations of fundamental rights and of the Frontex Code of Conduct by deployed officers, who allegedly pushed potential asylum seekers off the Greek coast, as reported previously by EU Law Live.

Frontex launched an internal inquiry into these accusations, and its Management Board decided to launch a sub-group to fully investigate all aspects related to the matter, and called on the Executive Director to suspend or terminate any activity he considers that violated fundamental rights or international protection obligations.

The new working group will be tasked with reviewing the implementation of the existing Serious Incident Reporting mechanism and discuss possible operational responses to situations related to ‘hybrid threats’ to Member States’ national security at the external borders. It will further clarify the legal framework applicable to maritime operations coordinated by Frontex.

Read Frontex’s press release here.