13
Dec
2023
Watch
Frontex, building on the fact-finding investigation of the LIBE Working Group for Frontex Scrutiny (debate)
Mr President, the investigation carried out by OLAF and the pressure from the European Parliament against it led to the resignation of Frontex Director Fabrice Leggeri. A good part of this Chamber probably thought that the agency would be reborn under new auspices, that it would leave behind the dysfunctions of the past and thus make it possible to justify the continuous evolution of its budget of more than EUR 900 million over ten years. What a challenge! The Agency is once again engaging in abject practices. By communicating the GPS coordinates of boats seeking to reach Europe to a Libyan militia, she delivered innocent people to a criminal group that finances itself through migrant smuggling and tortures them. Remind me how much the European Union spends on its anti-trafficking plans, of which it has made one of its priorities? Is cooperation with traffickers a concept shared by both Frontex and the European Commission? Frontex has implemented almost all the recommendations, but apparently not that of respect for fundamental rights. And will you, ladies and gentlemen, in this Parliament, all of you assume your responsibilities by demanding the implementation of the recommendations of the Frontex resolution as a sine qua non condition for granting budgetary discharge? It is time to be consistent, otherwise scandals will continue to recur, and the rule of law will continue to deteriorate.