166 recruits from 14 European Member States have started their training programme to become European Border and Coast Guard standing corps officers. The course is taking place in the training centre of the Portuguese Maritime Police Authority in Lisbon.
All the officers already have significant experience in border, coast guard or law enforcement activities. The training will consolidate their knowledge and skills in border management, interviewing techniques and how to spot various types of crime before they join EU’s first uniformed service.
After completing the course, they will start their service at the EU’s external border or outside the European Union. They will perform a variety of tasks, including border surveillance, assisting in return operations, fighting cross-border crime, detecting document fraud and collecting information on people smugglers.
The course was designed to provide the officers with the necessary theoretical and practical competences to work together in an operational area, fully complying with the applicable EU law and ethical standards. This is already the eighth iteration of the basic training organised by Frontex in cooperation with national authorities.
