The European Union plans to expand Frontex’s role in migrant deportations, allowing the bloc’s border agency to support the transfer of irregular migrants between non-EU countries under proposed reforms expected to widen its operations beyond European territory.
According to EU officials who spoke anonymously to Euronews, the European Commission is preparing new rules that would allow Frontex to help authorities in countries outside the EU return migrants to their countries of origin. The proposal would extend the agency’s responsibilities beyond managing Europe’s external borders and assisting member states with deportations.
Under the current system, Frontex supports national authorities in returning irregular migrants from EU countries to their countries of origin. It also helps protect the bloc’s external borders and coastlines. The proposed changes would allow the agency to assist governments in third countries, including those in North Africa, with returning migrants from other parts of Africa before they reach Europe.
“The more people you return before [they reach Europe], the less you have to return after,” an EU official told Euronews, describing the reasoning behind the proposed approach.
The reforms would also allow Frontex to participate in deportations from migrant return hubs established outside the EU. Legislation recently approved by the bloc allows member states to set up such facilities in third countries for people whose asylum applications or legal right to remain in the EU have been rejected. Five EU governments are negotiating plans for the first hub, which is expected to become operational in 2027.
People held in these facilities are ultimately expected to be returned to their countries of origin. Frontex’s expanded role could include helping coordinate or carry out the transfers needed to complete those returns.
The proposed changes would mark a significant extension of the agency’s operational reach. Josephine Solanki, a researcher at the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute, said the reforms would move Frontex further away from its traditional role at Europe’s borders.
“It’s no longer only an agency supporting EU countries at their borders. […] It’s a deportation agency, increasingly operating far away from the actual border of the EU,” Solanki said during a press briefing ahead of the proposed reform.
The plans have raised concerns among non-governmental organisations and other civil society groups, which argue that any expansion of Frontex’s authority must be accompanied by stronger safeguards and independent oversight. These organisations have called for clearer accountability measures to protect migrants’ fundamental rights, pointing to previous allegations of rights violations connected to the agency’s operations in Europe.
Frontex would not be able to begin cooperating with any third country automatically under the proposed framework. Each operation would require a specific agreement with the country concerned, similar to the status agreements the agency already has with several non-EU states, including Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia.
Such agreements establish the conditions under which Frontex personnel can be deployed on foreign territory to carry out designated tasks, including joint operations and rapid border interventions.
The EU is also negotiating an agreement with Senegal. In the meantime, Frontex has maintained a liaison presence in the country through working arrangements. A liaison officer was appointed in 2023 with a mandate covering Senegal, Mauritania and Gambia, providing a framework for cooperation in the region.
The proposed reform would introduce additional measures to help the EU respond to sudden increases in irregular migration. These include a rapid-response force that could be deployed during large-scale arrivals and an online surveillance unit tasked with monitoring social media to identify or anticipate significant movements of migrants.
The plans follow episodes of mass migration at the EU’s external borders, including a reported crossing into Ceuta, the Spanish exclave in North Africa, last July. According to the original report, around 90,000 migrants forced their way across the border between Morocco and Ceuta, an incident cited in the debate over the EU’s response to sudden arrivals.
European Commission Vice-President for Security Henna Virkkunen and Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner are expected to present the reform following the Commission’s weekly meeting on Tuesday.
The proposed expansion also comes with a substantial increase in funding. Frontex is set to receive 12 billion euros under the EU’s next seven-year budget, double its previous allocation. The additional funding would support the agency as the bloc considers a broader role for it in border management, migrant returns and operations conducted in cooperation with countries outside Europe.
