Investigative body: European Ombudsman
Started: March 2021
Status: Decision on 17 January 2022
The inquiry looks specifically at the accountabilitiy of Frontex in joint operations, return activities, and screening of migrants at external borders.
The Ombudsman sent questions to Frontex in March 2021, receiving a reply in April, and looked into how Frontex ensures the transparency of its ‘operational plans’, how it decides to suspend, terminate or not launch an activity due to fundamental rights concerns (according to Article 46 of the 2019 Regulation), and the monitoring of return operations. The Ombudsman recommends that Frontex publish summaries of its confidential operational plans, and that it provide additional training to fundamental rights monitors (FRMs), not all of which have been appointed yet.
More detail on the Ombudsman’s decision can be found here: “European Ombudsman: more transparency and fundamental rights training needed at Frontex”
Relevant documents:
- European Ombudsman: Decision in OI/4/2021/MHZ on how the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) complies with its fundamental rights obligations and ensures accountability in relation to its enhanced responsibilities
- European Ombudsman: Reply from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency(Frontex) to Own Initiative Inquiry of the European Ombudsman-case ref : OI/4/2021/MHZ
- European Ombudsman: Report on the inspection of documents on how the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) complies with its fundamental rights obligations and ensures accountability in relation to its enhanced responsibilities