Frontex and pushbacks: Management Board decision setting up the working group to investigate
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Country/Region
15 January 2021
The 'Management Board Working Group on Fundamental Rights and Legal and Operational Aspects of Operations' will be made up of representatives of Germany; Greece, Hungary, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, France, and the European Commission.
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On 26 November, the Frontex Management Board approved a decision setting up a working group to:
"a) conduct inquiries in relation to the allegations of so-called pushbacks in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2020 and, where mandated by separate decisions of the Management Board, in relation to any such allegations into other operational activities of the Agency;
b) contribute to the completion of the Agency’s framework for the independent monitoring of fundamental rights compliance in the Agency’s operational activities in accordance with the Regulation, including the preparation of drafts of relevant Management Board Decisions in the area of fundamental rights;
c) review the implementation of the existing Serious Incident Reporting mechanism3 and, if necessary, recommend its revision in view of the Regulation;
d) contribute to the interpretation of those provisions of Union regulations related to operational activities at sea and discuss possible operational responses to situations related to “hybrid threats” to Member States’ national security at the external borders which may arise in the context of maritime operations of the Agency; and
e) in addition to a), once mandated by separate decisions of the Management Board, consider any other issues regarding legal and operational aspects of the Agency’s operational activities."
See: Management Board Decision 39/2020 of 26 November 2020 on the establishment of the Management Board Working Group on
Fundamental Rights and Legal and Operational Aspects of Operations (pdf)
Further reading
- OLAF raided EU border chief's office over migrant pushback claims
- EU: Tens of thousands of people call for Frontex director to step down
- Frontex officials preventing information on pushbacks reaching HQ, says report
- Frontex: thumbs-up for the "Management Board Working Group on Fundamental Rights and Legal and Operational Aspects of Operations"
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