Frontex acknowledged the work of the Frontex Consultative Forum last year after the release of its annual report for 2016 and has addressed the recommendations put forward by the Frontex Consultative Forum.
Regarding the Consultative Forum’s recommendation on Frontex operational activities in Hungary, the agency believes that the presence of members of the European Border and Coast Guard Teams and Frontex staff on the Hungarian-Serbian border can actively contribute to minimise any possible risks highlighted by the Forum. It can also provide an objective and reliable source of information on the circumstances on the ground.
Frontex is also moving forward with expanding the office of the Frontex Fundamental Rights Officer to assist in fulfilling the tasks allocated to her in the regulation, including return support, operational guidance, evaluation of operations, training, and monitoring and reporting, as well as general promotion within the agency and among officers it deploys.
Frontex is also currently working on ensuring that the newly created complaint mechanism is made known more widely, better accessible as well as more visible on the agency’s web page.
“I look forward to continuing our cooperation with the Frontex Consultative Forum to ensure that our agency and all officers deployed by Frontex at the European Union’s external borders continue to comply with our fundamental rights obligations,” Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri said.
The Consultative Forum was created in 2012 to assist the Executive Director and the Management Board in fundamental rights matters offering strategic advice on how Frontex can improve the respect for Fundamental Rights in all its activities. The Forum brings together representatives from relevant EU agencies and international organisations, as well as from civil society organisations.