On discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency for the financial year 2022

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SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution:

1. Welcomes the fact that the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’) has declared the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) for the financial year 2022 to be legal and regular in all material respects;

2. Appreciates the Frontex’s prompt response and support provided to Member States to deal with the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine particularly the vital role of Frontex against the instrumentalisation of migrants by the Belarussian and Russian regimes; welcomes the deployment of about 500 standing corps officers working along the eastern border from Finland to Romania, including more than 350 officers working at the EU-Ukraine borders and the signature of a grant agreement worth EUR 12 million between Frontex and the State Border Guard Service to support Ukrainian border officers in performing their duties;

3. Notes that Frontex is the largest EU agency which received more significant budget increases in the last years, in line with its new responsibilities; recalls that EU contributed EUR 788 million in 2023 in comparison to EUR 704 million in 2022; recalls that Frontex has been strengthened in terms of staff and technical equipment with its new mandate in 2019; notes that in view of the complex geopolitical situation highlighted by unprovoked Russian aggression in Ukraine, the importance of Frontex in supporting Member States increased significantly and efforts must continue in terms of human and material resources;

4. Welcomes that Frontex implemented 99,4% of its 2022 budget demonstrating the efficiency and effectiveness of internal controls put in place and the significant improvements made in the budget management;

5. Welcomes that in 2022 the Frontex went through significant managerial changes, including a new fundamental rights officer (FRO), a new chair of its Management Board, three new deputy executive directors and a new executive director; further welcomes steps taken by Frontex to undergo a transition process and to improve the management culture and promote staff well-being;

6. Notes with satisfaction that in order to improve accountability, regularity, and legality of all Frontex activities additional 22 Fundamental Rights Monitors (FROMs) were externally recruited, exceeding the obligation of 40 FROMs required by Article 110(6) of the Regulation; welcomes that the Fundamental Rights Office conducted 1 183 deployment days visiting 50 countries which is a substantial increase in comparison to the previous year; further appreciates that the monitors took place in in 37 return missions contributing to the full compliance of the activities with the legal framework in place;

7. Welcomes Frontex’ measures on transparency and scrutiny, namely providing Parliament and the Council with an overview of its activities through a new reporting tool called the ‘dashboard’; encourages the chairpersons of the Management Board to continue inviting Parliament observers to its meetings and to consider extending the invitations to all agenda items, including in camera points, and to continue providing all supporting documents without exception and, if deemed necessary, in a confidential manner;