Archive
EU’s deregulation agenda will undermine protections against surveillance and snooping
The EU's so-called war on red tape risks undermining, sidelining or eliminating a vast number of rules designed to protect people from toxic pollution, corporate wrong-doing, exploitation, and misuse of data and surveillance powers. A statement signed by almost 500 organisations, including Statewatch, demands a change of direction. Read More
Outsourcing Borders: Bulletin 9
“We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own.” – Chinua Achebe This bulletin is… Read More
Border externalisation and technologies of control
September 2025-February 2027 Read More
A watchdog for EU justice and home affairs policies
Monitoring EU law, spending, policies and practices in the field of justice and home affairs
July 2025-June 2028 Read More
€2 billion in 15 years: how Frontex finances Fortress Europe
Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, pays out hundreds of millions of euros every year to EU and Schengen member states. The money supports the agency’s standing corps of border guards, operations at the EU’s external borders, and cooperation with non-EU states, amongst other things. Data visualised here shows the scale and scope of the funding provided by Frontex: more than €2 billion between the beginning of 2008 and the end of 2024. Read More
EU-funded aggression: How years of impunity led to the attack on the Ocean Viking
On 24 August, members of the so-called Libyan Coast Guard spent 20 minutes firing hundreds of bullets at humanitarian workers and rescued people on board the Ocean Viking. The attack is the result of years of EU funding, coordination and policy empowering violent actors in an attempt to seal its borders from refugees. What happens next will determine whether international law is reaffirmed or erased entirely. Read More
EU budget proposals: more external migration control, less democratic scrutiny
In mid-July, the European Commission published its proposal for the EU’s next long-term budget, for the period from 2028 to 2034. The Commission wants €200 billion for “external action” – a 75% increase from the current budget. Within this, external migration control remains a high priority. The Commission wants to penalise states that don’t comply with EU migration policies, whilst undermining official development aid standards and limiting democratic oversight. Read More
EU prepares to give US direct access to police and immigration databases
The massive increase in violent immigration raids, detention and deportation underway in the US has put off many people from visiting the country. Soon there may be yet another reason to think twice about taking a trip to the “land of the free”: US immigration and law enforcement agencies could be given the power to search European databases, to identify people posing “a threat to US security.” Read More
Document: Exploitation of new technologies for extremist and terrorist purposes
A note from the Polish presidency of the Council of the EU to the Terrorism Working Party, circulated on 20 June 2025. Read More
Greece: Illegal, violent deportations: the heavy toll of seeking asylum in Europe
Asylum seekers in Lesvos report that violent pushbacks by masked Greek coastguard forces persist, involving physical abuse, strip searches, theft, and potential use of migrants as auxiliaries. Read More