It’s a result that was expected, even if in the end it was very close. This Tuesday, October 18, MEPs rejected rejected the budgetary discharge of Frontex, the border surveillance agency of the European Union. After the dissemination of a damning report by Olaf, the European Anti-Fraud Office, which pointed the finger in particular at the illegal deportations of migrants by this agency, which goes against its prerogatives, the MEPs refused to validate the accounts for the year 2020 of Frontex. A real disappointment…
Olaf’s report, which was recently unveiled in full by the German magazine Der Spiegel in collaboration with investigative websites, caused a stir in the corridors of the European Parliament when it was published. His accusations were serious since Frontex allegedly covered up or participated in pushbacks of migrants in Greek waters.
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The agency is also accused of mismanagement, particularly following situations of conflict of interest and cases of harassment. A damning report that has cost its executive director his job since 2015, the French Fabrice Leggeriwho had to resign at the end of April. This is a sensitive matter because Europe wants to be exemplary in terms of respect for international law. And the agency’s way of acting did not correspond at all to European standards. “These are practices of the past,” Frontex reacted in a statement after the publication of the report.
An agency which also benefits from the largest funding in Europe with an estimated budget of 750 million euros in 2022. This decision not to validate the 2020 accounts must mark a break in Frontex’s practices according to many MEPs , because this is not the first time that this agency has been singled out for such excesses, reports our special correspondent in Strasbourg, Romain Lemaresquier.
It is the next director, to be appointed by the end of the year, according to Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, who will have to restore order and restore practices that truly respect international law.
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