Transparency, accountability and fundamental rights
The remit, powers, staffing and budgets of EU agencies have grown significantly over the last decade, reflecting the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and a rapidly-changing social, political and legal context – in the last few years in particular as a result of terrorist attacks in Europe and the continent’s so-called “refugee crisis”. These new and growing powers have been accompanied by new methods of transparency and accountability which leave much to be desired. Investigating, analysing and exposing these issues in order to promote positive changes is the aim of this project.
The three agencies have come to form a central part of the EU’s ongoing plans to extend its powers and policies in the fields of migration, crime and terrorism – which are being increasingly mingled together in the EU policy discourse – creating a dangerous precedent for fundamental rights and democratic control. This project aims to contribute to making sense of and taking action against the agencies as part of a necessary broader long-term effort to disentangle migration, security and terrorism in the prevalent policy discourse.
EU justice and home affairs agencies: Transparency, accountability and fundamental rights runs from April 2019-April 2021 and is funded by the Open Society Initiative for Europe.
Public output
Access to documents: complaints to the European Ombudsman- The failure by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) to maintain a public register of documents and other issues related to public access to documents (case 2273/2019/MIG)
- The failure by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) to maintain a public register of documents (case 2272/2019/MIG)
- Deportation Union: Rights, accountability and the EU’s push to increase forced removals (August 2020)
- Guns, guards and guidelines: reinforcement of Frontex runs into legal problems (May 2020)
- Monitoring “secondary movements” and “hotspos”: Frontex is now an internal surveillance agency (December 2019)
- The revised Returns Directive: a dangerous attempt to step up deportations by restricting rights (September 2019)
- A world without wiretapping? Official documents highlight concern over effects 5G technology will have on “lawful interception” (June 2019)
- Europol: plans afoot to legalise unlawful acts (July 2020)
- Montenegro: Frontex launches second operation on non-EU territory (July 2020)
- Borders, budgets and beyond: LIBE report sheds light on Frontex’s priorities for implementing its new mandate (July 2020)
- A role for Europol in making decisions on visa applications? (June 2020)
- Frontex splashes out: millions of euros for new technology and equipment (June 2020)
- Border externalisation: European Parliament gives green light to Frontex operations in Serbia and Montenegro (May 2020)
- Council of the EU: Finnish Presidency paper: Twenty Years of Europol – what next? (April 2020)
- EU: Europol: Novel Actionable information, Criminal intelligence analysis and data analytics portal (CONAN) (March 2020)
- Border externalisation: Agreements on Frontex operations in Serbia and Montenegro heading for parliamentary approval (March 2020)
- “Data lakes”, broken silos, changing the law: Counter-Terrorism Coordinator enthusiastic for Europol’s new ‘innovation hub’ (February 2020)
- New Council “strategic guidelines” frame the next five years of EU justice and home affairs policy (February 2020)
- ‘Roadmap’ for implementing new Frontex Regulation: full steam ahead (November 2019)
- Externalisation: Frontex launches first formal operation outside of the EU and deploys to Albania (May 2019)
- Construction of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS): progress reports from Frontex and Europol (May 2019)
- EU: “Policing in a Connected World”: Council looks to help police deal with “Novel Actionable Information” (March 2019)
- “Eliminating blind spots”: customs data could be checked against SIS and Europol under interoperability plans (March 2019)