Las capacidades de la Agencia Europea de la Guardia de Fronteras y Costas en el contexto fronterizo y migratorio europeo

Résumé

Migration is one of the most important problems for the Europeans, as it has invariably been reflected in Eurobarometer. Within this framework, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency plays a major role, despite having been openly criticized and having had its regulations modified four times in its short existence. All this leads us to ask ourselves the following question: Is this Agency prepared to assume its current mandate, as well as the future crises that our continent will have to face in the migratory and border contexts? In order to answer that question, this doctoral thesis has adopted a theoretical- empirical perspective, with a clear voyage, first identifying a problem and then analyzing the existing situation, to finally define the needs and solutions to it. With this purpose in mind, we have initially worked on the European regulatory framework, observing the evolution of the treaties, the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, together with the process of agencification that Europe is undergoing, and through which we seek to reach more technical and democratic decisions. In a second stage, migration and border policies have been analyzed, with a clear trend towards externalization and informalization in a process that leaves serious ethical doubts, the hackneyed but fundamental Schengen area has also been developed, along with the impact of new technologies on Frontex's daily activities. Finally, and centrally, this research has pivoted around the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, with its renewed mandate established by Regulation (EU) 1896/2019, creating the Standing Corps, the first European uniformed police force in history, additionally expanding its capabilities and also its audit in the face of the repeated political and judicial setbacks suffered by Frontex, mainly in the field of human rights protection. This thesis has analyzed the capacities of Frontex to faithfully fulfill its 2019 mandate, as well as to cope with the feasible migration crises to come; the results allow us to affirm that, as of today, these capacities are limited.