Controversy-hit Frontex may get powers to deport people from one non-EU state to another

The EU’s border force agency Frontex is set to have its power expanded so that it can deport people between non-EU countries, based on international agreements – raising the possibility of a future role for it in EU-backed return hubs.

The idea was confirmed on Thursday (2 July) by the deputy-director general of the EU commission’s home affairs department, Olivier Onidi who is currently drafting a new proposal to reinforce the agency’s powers.

“There is no intention of us to give a free mandate to Frontex to conduct return operations from third countries to other third countries,” said Onidi.

Instead, Onidi said any such return operation would come with a “fully-fledged international agreement” backed by EU states and the EU parliament.

“All of this will not happen in the vacuum. This will be codified. There will be safeguards, in terms of orchestrating this in order to ensure full compliance of the way we actually practice returns in our jurisdictions,” he added.

The commission is currently drafting a new mandate for the Warsaw-based agency, whose budget and size has increased dramatically over the years. Last year, it contracted out €163m on return operations to eTravel SA, a Poland-based company.

And the agency still has plans to increase its standing corps of border guards by next year from 10,000 to 30,000. The commission’s draft proposal is due at the end of September.

Onidi also pointed to several likely elements: more data-sharing, a stronger role for the agency abroad, clearer governance and accountability, and a bigger expectation that EU states act on violations reported by the agency.

He added that the new EU asylum rules will also matter, especially for screening people arriving at the external borders.

The comments were made following the publication of a study by the Greens on reforming Frontex, also published on Thursday.