In 2015, the European Commission proposed that that a European Border and Coast Guard should consist of a new European Border and Coast Guard Agency together with the national authorities responsible for border management, including coast guards. Integrated management of the external borders of the European Union (EU, in practice the Schengen Area) would be a shared responsibility of the agency and the national authorities. The agency would replace and succeed Frontex, and have a stronger role and mandate.

The new Agency will ensure Union standards for border management are implemented at all external borders. The external borders will be constantly monitored with periodic risk analyses and mandatory vulnerability assessments to identify and address weak spots. Liaison officers will be seconded to Member States where the borders are at risk. They will be fully integrated into the national information systems and able to relay the information back to the Agency. See the Union's Schengen system and common immigration policy.

It is anticipated that the new agency's budget will be €238 million in 2016, rising to €322 million in 2020.^[1] To enable the EBCGA to complete its tasks, its budget will be gradually increased from the €143 million originally planned for 2015 up to €238 million in 2016, €281 million in 2017, and will reach €322 million (about US$ 350 million) in 2020. The Agency will gradually increase its staff members from 402 in 2016 to 1,000 by 2020.

18 December 2015, the European Council gave the proposal wide backing, but the final legislation will be subject to ordinary legislative procedure.^[2]

The Commission was prompted to take swift action due to the mass-immigration taking place during 2015, which brought to the forefront the need to improve the security of the external borders of the union. This crisis also demonstrated that Frontex, which had a limited mandate in supporting the Member States to secure their external borders, had inadequate staff and equipment and lacked the authority to conduct border management operations and search-and-rescue efforts. (Id.)

Agency was proposed by the European Commission on the 15 December 2015^[3] to replace the existing Frontex agency that was widely seen as being ineffective in the wake of the European migrant crisis. Support for the proposal has come from France and Germany, with Poland and Hungary expressing opposition to the plan, concerned by the perceived loss of sovereignty.^[4]

The limitations of the current EU border agency, Frontex, have hindered its ability to effectively address and remedy the situation created by the refugee crisis: it is not able to purchase its own resources, it does not have its own operational staff and relies on Member State contributions, it is unable to carry out its own return or border management operations without the prior request of a Member State and it does not have an explicit mandate to conduct search and rescue operations. The new Agency will be strengthened and reinforced to address all these issues.

The legal grounds for the proposal are article 77, paragraph 2(b) and (d), and article 79, paragraph 2 (c), of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Article 77 grants competence to the EU to adopt legislation on a “gradual introduction of an integrated management system for external borders,” and article 79 authorizes the EU to enact legislation concerning the repatriation of third-country nationals residing illegally within the EU.

In general, the proposed European Border and Coast Guard (EBCG) would have increased competences and be better equipped in comparison with Frontex. The EBCG would consist of a new European Border and Coast Guard Agency (EBCGA) together with the national border and coast guards, who would both be responsible for securing and patrolling the Union's external borders. This implies that the EBCG would have an overall responsibility, although the exact relation between the European agency and the national authorities, and the nature of their sharing of responsibility, have not been determined in detail. National authorities would continue to exercise the day-to-day management of their respective external borders.

The EBCG would be fitted into the Common European Asylum System and the Schengen System, and coordinate its work alongside the European Fisheries Control Agency and European Maritime Safety Agency.

Establishment and deployment of EBCG Teams for joint operations and rapid border interventions, as needed.

The Agency will include cross-border crime and terrorism in its risk analysis, process personal data of persons suspected to be involved in acts of terrorism and cooperate with other Union agencies and international organisations on the prevention of terrorism.

The EBCG would be able to launch joint surveillance operations, including joint operation of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (drones) in the Mediterranean Sea.

The European Space Agency's earth observation system Copernicus would provide the new agency with real time satellite surveillance capabilities alongside the current Eurosur border surveillance system.

A monitoring and risk analysis center would be established, with the authorisation to carry out mandatory vulnerability assessments concerning the capacities of the Member States to face current or upcoming challenges at their external borders.

The Agency’s permanent staff will be more than doubled and for the first time, the Agency will be able to purchase its own equipment and deploy them in border operations at a moment’s notice. A rapid reserve pool of border guards and a technical equipment pool will be put at the disposal of the Agency – meaning there will no longer be shortages of staff of equipment for Agency operations.

When deficiencies are identified, the Agency will be empowered to require Member States take timely corrective action. In urgent situations that put the functioning of the Schengen area at risk and when deficiencies have not been remedied, the Agency will be able to step in to ensure that action is taken on the ground even where there is no request for assistance from the Member State concerned or where that Member State considers that there is no need for additional intervention.

The right to intervene. Member States will be able to request joint operations, rapid border interventions, and deployment of the EBCG Teams to support national authorities when a Member State experiences an influx of migrants that endangers the Schengen area. In such a case, especially when a Member State’s action is not sufficient to handle the crisis, the Commission will have the authority to adopt an implementing decision that will determine whether a situation at a particular section of the external borders requires urgent action at the EU level. Based on this decision, the EBCGA will be able to intervene and deploy EBCG Teams to ensure that action is taken on the ground, even when a Member State is unable or unwilling to take the necessary measures.

The right to intervene is a point of contention between a number of EU Members and the Commission, especially those Members whose borders form the external borders of the EU, such as Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Poland. They want to ensure that intervention is possible only with the consent of the Member States, whose external borders necessitate the presence of the ECBGA. Greece’s Alternate Minister for European Affairs, Nikos Xydakis, stated in an interview that while Greece is supportive of a common European action and of changing Frontex’s mandate, it wants the ECBGA to take complete charge of migration and refugee flows.

The Agency would have a new mandate to send liaison officers and launch joint operations with neighbouring third countries, including operating on their territory.

As part of the Border and Coast Guard a Return Office would be established with the capacity to repatriate immigrants residing illegally in the union by deploying Return Intervention Teams composed of escorts, monitors, and specialists dealing with related technical aspects. For this repatriation, a uniform European travel document would ensure wider acceptance by third countries. In emergency situations such Intervention Teams will be sent to problem areas to bolster security, either at the request of a member state or at the agency's own initiative. It is this latter proposed capability, to be able to deploy specialists to member states borders without the approval of the national government in question that is proving the most controversial aspect of this European Commission plan. ^[1]

Member State	Border guard	Coast guard
Croatia		Croatia
Cyprus		Main articles: Cyprus Port and Marine Police and Cyprus Police Aviation Unit Cyprus
Czech Republic	Alien Police Service
France	Main article: Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes	Main article: Maritime Gendarmerie France
Germany	Main article: Federal Police (Germany)	Main article: German Federal Coast Guard Germany
Greece		Main article: Hellenic Coast Guard Greece
Hungary	Police
Iceland		Main article: Icelandic Coast Guard Iceland
Ireland		Main article: Irish Coast Guard Ireland
Isle of Man		Main article: Isle of Man Coastguard Isle of Man
Italy	Main articles: Guardia di Finanza, Carabinieri, and Polizia di Stato § Immigration and Border Police	Main article: Corps of the Port Captaincies – Coast Guard Italy
Jersey		Main article: Jersey Coastguard Jersey
Lithuania	Main article: State Border Guard Service (Lithuania)
Netherlands	Main article: Royal Marechaussee	Main article: Netherlands Coastguard Netherlands
Norway		Main article: Royal Norwegian Coast Guard Norway
Poland		Border Guard (Poland)
Portugal	Portugal	Maritime Authority System (Portuguese Navy, Portuguese National Republican Guard, Portuguese Air Force, the Border and Immigration Service (SEF), Civil Protection Authority, the National Medical Emergency Institute and the Criminal Investigation Police)
Spain	Main articles: Guardia Civil and Servicio de Vigilancia Aduanera	Main articles: Maritime Security and Rescue Society and Servicio Marítimo de la Guardia Civil
Galicia		The autonomous community of Galicia has their own separate coast guard service, the Servizo de Gardacostas de Galicia or simply Gardacostas de Galicia. It is the Galician Government agency responsible for the coast and fisheries surveillance, the maritime search and rescue and the protection of the sea environment. The Gardacostas de Galicia operates a fleet of more than 20 vessels and three helicopters, from the bases of Viveiro, Ferrol, A Coruña, Muxía, Porto do Son, Ribeira, Vilagarcía de Arousa, Pontevedra and Vigo. The Gardacostas de Galicia was created in 2004, by the fusion of the former Servizo de Vixilancia Pesqueira (Galician Fisheries Surveillance Service) and the Servizo de Busca e Salvamento (Galician Search and Rescue Service).
Sweden		Main article: Coast Guard (Sweden) Sweden
United Kingdom	Main articles: Border Force and Police Service of Northern Ireland United Kingdom	Main article: Her Majesty's Coastguard United Kingdom
Scotland		Main article: Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• European Union
• Finland
• France
  • Border Police
  • Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes
• Germany
• Guernsey
• Ireland
• Italy
  • Carabinieri
  • Guardia di Finanza
  • Polizia di Stato
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Norway
  • Police
  • Garrison of Sør-Varanger
• Poland
  • Straż Graniczna
  • Służba Celna
• Romania
• San Marino
• Switzerland

• Frontex
• European Border Surveillance System
• Schengen Area
• Europol
• European Asylum Support Office
• European Asylum Curriculum
• Asylum in the European Union

• Proposed regulation
• europa.eu
• European Commission fact sheet
• US Library of Congress description