Parliamentary question

Written question to the European Commission

On 23 October 2020, Der Spiegel published its investigation entitled ‘EU Border Agency Frontex Complicit in Greek Refugee Pushback Campaign’. During the LIBE Committee of 6 July 2020, Mr Leggeri denied any knowledge of pushbacks by the Greek authorities, except for one event he labelled as a ‘misunderstanding’. Despite the above, the article shows that Frontex officials had information of at least six incidents where the Greek authorities had carried out pushbacks, without offering its help to migrants in distress and despite the obligation of the Code of Conduct of Frontex officers to prevent refoulements. This includes an incident that took place on 8 June 2020, where the Frontex ship MAI 1103 blocked a migrant boat, purposely generated dangerous waves preventing its advance, and left the site once the Greek authorities had arrived and pushed back the boat.

1. What measures are the Commission and Frontex considering taking in order to ensure that the above incidents are not repeated?

2. Does the Commission know whether Mr Leggeri did not in fact have any knowledge of the above incidents during his appearance at the LIBE Committee?

3. In the light of the above, what position does it take regarding the ensuing political responsibilities that Frontex must bear?

Answer given by Commissioner Johansson on behalf of the European Commission

The Commission takes the allegations of pushbacks very seriously. In line with EC law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the principle of non-refoulement must be respected in the exercise of border management.

In addition to two regular meetings of the Frontex Management Board in November 2020 and January 2021, the Commission requested extraordinary Management Board meetings, which were convened on 10 November 2020, 9 December 2020 and 5 March 2021, to discuss the allegations.

In its meeting of 10 November 2020, the Management Board decided to set up a working group to the Management Board to further examine this matter, in line with the distribution of responsibilities under Regulation (EU) 2019/1896.

The Commission was represented in that working group and has submitted a number of questions to the Executive Director, with a view to obtaining further clarifications. On invitation, a representative of the European Parliament participated in the meetings of the Management Board on this matter.

The Executive Director of Frontex informed the Commission by letter of 27 October 2020 about the preliminary results of the Agency’s internal inquiry into the incidents reported by the media, stressing that so far Frontex had not found any documents or other materials substantiating any accusations of violations of fundamental rights or the Frontex Code of Conduct by deployed officers.

The final report of the working group and the conclusions adopted by the Management Board on 5 March 2021 have been published on the Agency’s website.

Having an effective and well-functioning Agency for the management of the external borders, which guarantees the protection of fundamental rights in the exercise of its functions, is a priority for the Commission. To that effect, the Commission will continue to provide support and advice to the Agency to ensure the effective implementation of its mandate.