The European Union has unveiled plans for a new border and coastguard force with the power to intervene in matters even without the consent of the host country.
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The new force will compromise of aircraft, unmanned drones, ships and have a standing border troop of 1,500 officers, ready to be deployed at three days’ notice to plug gaps in the Schengen zone’s external border. “This is a safety net, which like all safety nets we hope will never need to be used”, Timmermans told members of the European Parliament. He said that a European border and coast guard system would strengthen the only European border the EU should have, protecting the EU with mandatory checks on everyone leaving and entering the EU.
The year has seen divisions deepen between frontline states in the south struggling to protect external borders and destination countries in the north that want to stop the flow, an initially more welcoming western Europe and more closed eastern member states.
But EU sources said most member states were reluctant to endorse a scheme without evidence that Turkey had successfully curbed the flow of refugees into Europe.
The migrant crisis has put intense strain on the EU’s principle of free movement, with some states reintroducing border controls.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body was proposing a force with a stronger mandate than the EU’s current Frontex border teams.
Volker Kauder, of Germany’s Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union parties commented, “National member states should be prepared to give up their rights of sovereignty entirely or at least in part”.
“The system we propose will allow for an identification of any weaknesses in real time so that they can be remedied quickly also improving our collective ability to deal effectively with crisis situations where a section of theexternal borderis placed under strong pressure” European Commission First Vice-President FransTimmermans commented.
European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker has vowed that the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone is “here to stay” on the eve of an EU summit.
When the border force would be deployed is a delicate issue yet to be negotiated.
EPP group leader Manfred Weber (DE) said he would support all new initiatives the Commission tabled, such as the one on the EU’s external border management. “The decisions of the agency will be binding for the member states”. The proposals already face opposition in countries like Poland where some politicians suspect a blunt power grab by Brussels meant to decrease national sovereignty.
Tuesday’s package included a one-year exemption from the bloc’s refugee-relocation quotas for Sweden, which has taken in more asylum-seekers relative to its population than any other country.
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Germany is throwing its weight behind the proposal, with chancellor Angela Merkel saying Wednesday that the 28 members of the bloc should work together toward a “common European and global answer to sustainably reduce the number of refugees”.
