Representatives of 22 European countries, European institutions and bodies met for two days in Warsaw to boost co-operation of coast guard services from the EU and Schengen Associated Countries.
The conference organised by Frontex was the first one to gather all EU coastal countries to develop a joint approach to the future challenges in the fields of maritime border security, maritime safety, search and rescue (SAR) and environmental issues. During two-day discussion the heads of coast guard services came to several conclusions.
They have underlined the need of protection of lives and respect of fundamental rights in all activities performed by coast guard services. Furthermore, they have agreed that close co-operation between national services and services of other countries should be promoted in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of coast guard activities. This approach has been promoted by Frontex since 2007 when the European Patrols Network project was launched.
Participants of the conference agreed also that the interagency co-operation should be developed also at the EU-level with existing EU initiatives such as EU integrated maritime policy, SafeSeaNet or EUROSUR. In this respect practical co-operation of activities among Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA), European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and Frontex will be enhanced.
Heads of coast guard services supported also the idea of creating more interoperable surveillance system to bring together existing monitoring and tracking systems used for maritime safety and security, SAR activities, protection of marine environment, fisheries control, control of external borders and other law enforcement activities for enhancing the situational awareness and cost effectiveness.
Spain expressed its will to host the next conference, which will be organised annually with possible support of Frontex, European Maritime Safety Agency and Community Fisheries Control Agency. Additionally, participants supported the suggestion to establish permanent secretariat of the conference that would develop proposals for future actions and organise the work of this practitioners’ forum.
Full list of participants:
- European Commission, Community Fisheries Control Agency, European Maritime Safety Agency, European Space Agency, European Union Satellite Centre, Frontex;
- Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden;