Commission proposes a Frontex standing corps of 30,000 officers

The European Commission has proposed rules that would expand Frontex’s border-protection capacity and make the agency the EU’s central actor for returns.¹ The proposal sets out a standing corps intended to grow gradually to 30,000 officers, with a first stated milestone of 10,000 by 2027.¹ The scale of the planned corps is the headline change, while the gradual timetable means the full stated strength would not arrive at once.¹ The Commission also proposes doubling Frontex’s own staff over time, from its current level to 6,000.¹ These proposals build on the current Frontex Regulation, which entered into force in 2019, rather than replacing the agency’s existing framework entirely.¹

The Commission presents the expansion against a border picture that includes both improvement in some indicators and continuing pressure on the common external borders.¹ It says illegal border crossings have fallen to less than half their level from two years earlier, while the return rate has risen above 30 percent.¹ Those figures describe changes over time, but the Commission also says a different geopolitical and security environment is testing the EU’s shared external borders.¹ The stated case for strengthening the agency therefore sits alongside the reported reductions in crossings and a return rate now above the stated threshold.¹ The Commission says the proposed operational aims need adequate financial resources, linking the scale of the planned work to the funding question.¹

Frontex has supported EU Member States and countries associated with Schengen on external borders and cross-border crime since the agency was created in 2005.¹ The proposal would expand that supporting role, but Member States would continue to hold primary responsibility for protecting borders and returning people without a right to stay.¹ The proposed corps is described as reaching 30,000 officers over time, and the Commission identifies a new European Border and Return Reserve of 17,000 officers within the plan.¹ That reserve would be additional to Frontex’s own staff and the 7,000 personnel seconded from Member States.¹ Reserve personnel would remain under national control as border guards, but could be sent to Frontex when support is needed at an external border.¹

The Commission proposes a Return Coordination Centre to organise and coordinate return activity across the EU in response to Member States’ needs.¹ The Centre would gather and examine national information on returns and reintegration, with the stated purpose of anticipating needs and planning Frontex’s resources.¹ Under the proposed procedure, each Member State would provide an indicative plan for returns and identify the Frontex help it expects to need.¹ Those submissions would be due annually by 1 November, giving the proposed coordination process a recurring date for planning information.¹ The Centre’s planned use of data is tied to forecasting and resource planning; the proposal describes those purposes rather than promising a particular number of returns.¹

The proposal would also permit Frontex to help organise and carry out returns between two countries outside the EU.¹ That authority would apply only where an agreement is in place and safeguards for rights are respected.¹ For border emergencies or crises, the Commission proposes a Quick Reaction Force that could assist Member States at external borders.¹ The Executive Director of Frontex could decide to deploy that force after a Member State facing an emergency asks for assistance.¹ The proposed process thus places deployment after both a national request and a decision by the agency’s Executive Director.¹

A proposed Online Monitoring and Response Centre would track publicly accessible social-media material for developments relevant to managing the EU’s external borders.¹ Separately, Member States would have to notify the EU of events capable of significantly affecting its borders within 24 hours.¹ The required notifications would travel through the dedicated EUROSUR network, making that system the specified reporting route.¹ These measures cover different information sources: public online content for monitoring, and formal national reports about significant border events.¹ The Commission also proposes a regulation to move return, readmission and reintegration procedures across the EU into digital form.¹

The proposed digital changes are intended to make return-case administration simpler and faster, while easing administrative work and improving the collection and exchange of data.¹ The Commission says Frontex’s budget for the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework is almost €6 billion.¹ It says the proposal is aligned with its proposed €11.8 billion Frontex budget for the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework.¹ The two amounts refer to different Multiannual Financial Framework periods, and the latter is the budget figure proposed for the later period.¹ The Commission links adequate funding to the operational objectives it describes, rather than presenting the proposed budget as separate from the expansion.¹

Frontex would also gain the ability to acquire, lease and jointly own equipment, and to participate in procurement alongside Member States.¹ Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the proposal would let Frontex assist Member States where and when support is needed, including with returns.¹ The Commission says the proposals fulfil commitments in its 2024-2029 political guidelines and in von der Leyen’s State of the Union address this year.¹ They are proposals, not rules already in force: the European Parliament and the Council must agree to them.¹ The Commission says it will support negotiations on both regulations, covering the proposed Frontex changes and the digitalisation of return-related procedures.¹