Frontex

European Border and Coast Guard Agency
The logo of Frontex

The section of Warsaw Spire which houses Frontex's seat
Agency overview
Formed3 October 2004 (2004-10-03) (original)
6 October 2016 (2016-10-06) (as European Border and Coast Guard Agency)
Preceding Agency
  • European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders
JurisdictionEuropean Union
HeadquartersWarsaw, Poland
Employees2000+ (2022)[1]
10,000 (2024/2027, proposed)[2][3][4]
Annual budget€ 754.4 million (2022)[5]
Agency executives
Parent AgencyEuropean Union
Key document
Websitefrontex.europa.eu
Map
Frontex is located in European Union
Warsaw
Warsaw
Frontex (European Union)

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, commonly known as Frontex,[6] is an agency of the European Union headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. In coordination with the border and coast guards of member states, it exercises border control of the European Schengen Area, a task within the area of freedom, security and justice domain.[6]: 1  Formally, the Agency's remit is to "support Member States on the ground in their efforts to protect the external borders";[6]: 5  it does not have authority to act otherwise unless "external border control" [by a member state] "is rendered ineffective to such an extent that it risks jeopardising the functioning of the Schengen area".[6]: 57 

Frontex was established in 2004 as the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders and is primarily responsible for coordinating border control efforts.[6] In response to the European migrant crisis of 2015–2016, the European Commission proposed on 15 December 2015 to extend Frontex's mandate and to transform it into a fully-fledged European Border and Coast Guard Agency.[7] On 18 December 2015, the European Council roundly supported the proposal,[8] and after a vote by the European Parliament, the European Border and Coast Guard was officially launched on 6 October 2016 at the Bulgarian external border with Turkey.[9] In November 2019, the remit and resources of the agency were extended.[6]

Frontex's budget has increased from the €143 million for 2015[10] to €543 million for 2021,[11] and the staff of the agency is planned to reach 10,000 by 2027.[12]

  1. ^ "Frontex Careers". Frontex. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  2. ^ "EU budget 2020". European Commission. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Opening Statement in the European Parliament Plenary Session by Ursula von der Leyen, Candidate for President of the European Commission". European Commission. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  4. ^ "European Border and Coast Guard - Press release". European Commission. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Frontex budget 2022" (PDF). Frontex. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Regulation (EU) 2019/1896". 13 November 2019.
  7. ^ "European Agenda on Migration: Securing Europe's External Borders". Europa.eu. European Commission. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  8. ^ Robinson, Duncan; Spiegel, Peter (18 December 2015). "EU border guard proposal wins wide support". Financial Times.
  9. ^ "News". European Commission - European Commission. 5 July 2023.
  10. ^ Frontex. "Budget 2015" (PDF).
  11. ^ Frontex. "Budget 2021" (PDF). Frontex official website. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  12. ^ "European Border and Coast Guard: Stronger EU borders with a new standing corps of 10,000 border guards". European Commission - European Commission. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2021.