EU Parliament green-lights new border guard agency

The European Parliament has endorsed plans for a new border and coast guard agency to help manage the thousands of asylum seekers fleeing to Europe.

The scheme was approved by 483 votes to 181 with 48 abstentions.

Under the plans, national authorities will still manage their borders on a day-to-day basis bit will be able to seek help from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (EBCGA) if they external borders are under pressure.

“The European Border and Coast Guard Regulation will ensure that the EU external borders are safer and better managed. This is not a silver bullet that can solve the migration crisis that the EU is facing today or fully restore trust in the Schengen area, but it is a very much needed first step,” rapporteur Artis Pabriks said.

Proud to have voted to set up new European Border&Coast Guard Agency to help manage migration & boost security. Well done @Pabriks @EPPGroup

— Roberta Metsola MEP (@RobertaMetsola) July 6, 2016

In a joint statement, European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans and migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopolous hailed the vote as a “major step forward” towards the management of migration and the preservation of Schengen.

“The European Border and Coast Guard will ensure a truly collective European management of our borers, based on the principle that security of our common EU external borders is a responsibility shared amongst all EU countries,” they said. “There should no longer be shortages of staff or equipment for operations at our external borders. The external border of one member state is the external border of all member states. The new Agency will support, monitor and, when necessary, reinforce the national border guards, focusing primarily on early detection and prevention of weaknesses in the management of the external borders.”

EU countries will establish a minimum pool of 1,500 officers and technical equipment that the agency could rapidly deploy to countries struggling with extraordinary migration flows; Malta will provide at least six border guards.

The establishment of a European Border and Coast Guard, announced by EC president Jean-Claude Juncker in his State of the Union speech in September 2015, is part of the measures under the European Agenda on Migration to reinforce the management and security of the EU’s external borders.

On 22 June this year, the European Parliament, Council and commission reached an agreement on the EC’s original proposal for a border and coast guard agency. The Council endorsed the agreement the following day.

Today’s approval by the European Parliament will be followed by a final vote on technical modifications resulting from a legal-linguistic revision, before being sent to the Council for a final endorsement.