FAQ

There are over 1200 employees from 29 countries working currently for Frontex. In 2021 we plan to employ additional staff responsible for the management of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), and up to 750 members of the European standing corps  who will be mostly deployed in Frontex operations.

Once the annual budget of Frontex is endorsed by its Management Board, it is presented to the European Commission and must be approved by the European Parliament. Frontex is legally obliged to report to the European Parliament about each year’s activities and expenses. In addition, every year the European Court of Auditors performs an audit on the accounts to ensure financial transparency. Based on this annual report, the European Parliament will — on a recommendation by the Council of Ministers — decide whether or not to accept that year’s accounts. This is the final stage of the budgetary cycle and is how accountability is safeguarded.

Annual Frontex budgets are available here.

Yes. Frontex works closely with other EU partners such as European agencies Europol, European Asylum Support Office (EASO), Eurojust, Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), EU-Lisa, European Maritime Agency (EMSA), European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), the European Police College (CEPOL) and many others.

Frontex also works closely with a variety of international organisations and bodies, including United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), ICMPD and others.

See here for the full list of our EU partners and for the list of international organisations with whom Frontex has signed working arrangements.

Frontex also cooperates with a number of organisations and NGOs which are part of its Consultative Forum – more information is available here.

Frontex was created in 2004. The mandate of the agency has been expanded in 2016, when it became Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. For more information, go here.

Frontex is one of over 30 European agencies specialising in a variety of different areas. These agencies are based in almost all countries of the EU. Some countries host more than one agency on its territory. Frontex was founded in 2004, the year Poland joined the EU as one of its 10 new members. At the time, Poland did not host any European agency. The seat of the agency was decided unanimously by the European Council. Since the role of Frontex is that of a coordinator, the location of its HQ is practically irrelevant as its operations take place at all external borders – land, sea and numerous international airports in Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria to mention just a few. It should be noted that that operations are not the only area of activity of the agency – Frontex also deals with research and development, risk analysis, developing training curricula for border guards across the EU, and sharing of information about the situation at the external borders between border authorities across Europe.

Article 7 of the European Border and Coast Guard Regulation provides that “the Agency shall be accountable to the European Parliament and to the Council in accordance with [that] Regulation”. This means that the Agency reports on its activities to the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with that Regulation, and that the two institutions are actively involved in the Agency’s work, exercising supervision. For example, the Agency’s Management Board is obliged to share Frontex’ annual activity report and annual/multiannual work programs with the European Parliament and the Council, who may choose to invite the executive director to report on his tasks and any matter related to the activities of the Agency. Furthermore, both institutions exercise financial supervision over the Agency’s budget and are informed about any substantial additional financial needs/requirement of staff due to a border situation. Another example could be the obligation of Frontex to inform the European Parliament of working arrangements concluded with Union institutions, bodies, offices, agencies and international organizations. The Agency is also obliged to inform the European Parliament before working arrangements are concluded with authorities of third countries. Moreover, as defined in the founding Regulation of Frontex, the Agency submits to the European Parliament and the Council general risk analyses and, at least once a year, transmits the results of the vulnerability assessment. Frontex is also accountable to national border guard authorities sitting on the Agency’s Management Board.

Frontex’s Management Board is composed of representatives of the heads of the border agencies of all the EU Member States that are signatories of the Schengen acquis. The Management Board also includes representatives from the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as two members of the European Commission. Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland (countries which are not EU member states, but which are associated with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis) also participate in the Management Board of the Agency. Each of them sends one representative to the Management Board but has limited voting rights. Meetings of the Management Board are convened by its Chair and are held at least five times a year.

No. It is important to underline that Frontex is a ‘practitioner body‘. This means that although the Agency is embedded within the EU, it does not come up with EU policy. This is in the hands of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council.

Yes, it does. For the first time, the European Union will has its own uniformed service – the European Border and Coast Guard standing corps. This new border corps, composed of Frontex and EU Member States’ officers, is at any time be able to support the Member States facing challenges at their external borders.

The standing corps, EU’s first uniformed service, is composed of Frontex and EU Member States’ officers. Their main task is to support national authorities facing challenges at their external borders. Standing corps members share many of the powers of national border guards. They can verify a person’s identity and nationality, allow or refuse entry into the EU and patrol between border crossing points.