The Annual Implementation Report for 2021 is available now.
Going beyond the obligations of the 2019 Regulation of the European Border and Cost Guard, which requires the presentation of statistical data on the commitments and deployments of the past year, this edition of the report addresses the journey taken since autumn of 2019, when the preparations began to implement the extensive mandate that entered into force in December the same year.
Back in 2019, the European Border and Coast Guard standing corps did not exist. The agency had not recruited any uniformed staff, had not clothed equipped or trained them. Member States and Schengen Associated Countries had not yet mobilised their long- and short-term contributions. The integrated planning processes across Member States, Schengen Associated Countries and the agency still needed to be mapped out, connected and consolidated.
Thanks to the many experts in national authorities and at Frontex, who have walked those extra miles, the growing standing corps is the European operational arm since January 2021, supporting the management of the external borders and in the area of returns. This is a step towards the European Border and Coast Guard cooperation, fusing the national and European layers, adding the much-needed added value in the turbulent times we are experiencing now, in the spirit of shared responsibility and solidarity.