An Analysis of the Commission Communications on Future Development of Frontex and the Creation of a European Border Surveillance System (eurosur)

On 13 February 2008, the European Commission tabled a border package, consisting of three communications 1. dealing with the issue of EU external border management. Two of these documents, namely the communication on the evaluation and future development of Frontex 2. and the communication on the creation of a European border surveillance system (Eurosur) 3. propose significant evolutions with regard the role of the Frontex agency and the orientations of the EU integrated border management (IBM) concept. The evaluation of Frontex elaborated by the Commission services is timely: since the beginning of its operational phase in 2005, the agency has considerably developed its activities in all its domains of competence, and the EC subsidy to its budget has more than tripled over the period 2006-2008. The evaluation, however, falls short of critically assessing the consistence of Frontex activities with the fundamental values upheld by the EU. In this regard, it seems important to recall that Frontex is a first-pillar, Community body, which should not only respect the EU fundamental values in its activities, but also work for their promotion, particularly in a field which touches upon critical questions related to migration and freedom of movement.