Legal Basis The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) is governed by Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 of 13 November 2019 on the European Border and Coast Guard (OJ L 295, 14.11.2019, p. 1). The above-mentioned regulation provides the Agency with a reinforced mandate and increased competences compared to Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 , such as the European Border and Coast Guard Standing Corps (the EU’s first uniformed service). The seat of Frontex is Warsaw, Poland, as laid down in Article 93(5) of... Read more
Frontex helps Italy track down people smugglers 2017-07-20 A plane taking part in Frontex activities in the Central Mediterranean played a key role in the arrest of two suspected people smugglers who had earlier dropped off 33 migrants near Syracuse, Sicily.The Italian authorities had asked Frontex to dispatch the plane, which streams real-time video to the agency’s headquarters, to help find the smugglers on sailboat that was heading away from Sicily. The plane spotted the suspected sailboat heading away from the island. The migrants later confirmed ... Read more
Frontex to implement border surveillance services as part of Copernicus 2015-12-17 Frontex and the European Commission signed a delegation agreement today, providing funding to the agency to implement satellite services dedicated to border surveillance as part of the Copernicus programme.The Commission will provide EUR 47.6 million to Frontex between 2015 and 2020 to support the following services: coastal monitoring, monitoring of international waters, reference mapping, maritime surveillance of an area, vessel detection, vessel tracking and reporting, anomaly detection and ... Read more
Frontex and Slovenian Presidency host high-level meeting with Western Balkan partners 2021-11-16 Today, Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, hosted a meeting between the Frontex Management Board and the Heads of Border Police from the Western Balkans. The event was co-organised with the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Participants gathered to discuss joint operations, information exchange and capacity building activities in the region. During the meeting, the partners decided to strengthen cooperation through intensified dialogue and joint initiatives as ... Read more
Frontex, EMSA and EFCA extend cooperation 2016-05-25 Frontex, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) signed bilateral interagency agreements today to extend their cooperation. The three agencies will continue to work together in their respective areas of border surveillance, interception of vessels suspected of engaging in criminal activities, cross border crime, support for search and rescue at sea and illegal fishing. Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri, EMSA Executive Director Markku ... Read more
Heads of Coast Guard Services in Warsaw 2009-04-23 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 ... Read more
Frontex R&D UAV Workshop and Demo 2011 - Call for Expressions of Interest 2011-03-08 In the context of the development of a common European border surveillance system (EUROSUR), Member States are expected to improve and harmonise their surveillance activities in order to ensure effective detection of illegal immigration and cross-border crime activities and to reduce the death toll of illegal immigrants by rescuing more lives at sea.In the maritime domain, there is a wide spectrum of possible technical means that can be employed to provide effective surveillance including: ... Read more
Call for Expressions of Interest 2010-09-14 Call for Expressions of Interest in demonstrating at Frontex R&D Green border workshop“Small UAVs and Fixed systems for Land border surveillance” In the context of the development of a common European border surveillance system (EUROSUR), Member States are expected to improve and harmonise their surveillance activities in order to ensure effective detection of illegal immigration and cross-border crime. In the domain of land border surveillance, there is a wide spectrum of possible technical ... Read more
Smarter, Faster, Safer? 2011-12-01 The European Commission (EC) presented a Communication on October 25 entitled “Smart Borders – options and the way ahead,” which proposes new approaches to striking the balance between security and freedom at the EU’s external borders. With the number of external border crossings exceeding 700 million each year and expected to keep rising, there is a need for a more sophisticated approach to border management for the future. The current system of passport stamps is seen as insufficient to rise ... Read more
Call for Expressions of Interest 2011-06-07 Call for Expressions of Interest in demonstrating at Frontex R&D Green border surveillance workshop 2011 “Aerostats and Rapid Deployment Unattended Ground Sensor systems for Land border surveillance”. In the context of the development of a common European border surveillance system (EUROSUR), Member States are expected to improve and harmonise their surveillance activities in order to ensure effective detection of irregular immigration and cross-border crime. In the domain of land border ... Read more