VZCZCXRO3973
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHWR #0729 0821538
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231538Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3748
INFO RUEHKV/AMEMBASSY KYIV PRIORITY 0062
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS WARSAW 000729 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER KNNP KSTCPL PL
SUBJECT: FRONTEX: A PRIMER ON THE EU'S BORDER CONTROL AGENCY 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Headquartered in Warsaw, the EU's external 
border control agency, FRONTEX, focuses on EU-level 
coordination of "intelligence driven operational cooperation" 
to strengthen security at the EU's external borders.  In a 
meeting with Pol-Mil Officer, FRONTEX External Relations 
Officer Rick Weijermans described the agency's key competency 
as "risk analysis."  FRONTEX is seeking cooperation with 
Ukraine, but it seems limited to negotiating an agreement and 
leaving the implementation to others.  END SUMMARY 
 
------------------- 
Statutory Authority 
------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) FRONTEX opened its Warsaw headquarters in 2004, just 
after Poland joined the EU, becoming the new eastern border. 
EU Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004 of 26 October 2004 
established FRONTEX, "a European Agency for the Management of 
Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member 
States of the European Union," with the following 
responsibilities: 
 
(a) coordinate operational cooperation between Member States 
in the field of management of external borders; 
 
(b) assist Member States in training national border guards, 
including the establishment of common training standards; 
 
(c) carry out risk analysis; 
 
(d) follow up on the development of research relevant for the 
control and surveillance of external borders; 
 
(e) assist Member States in the circumstances requiring 
increased technical and operational assistance at external 
borders; 
 
(f) provide Members States with the necessary support in 
organizing joint return operations. 
 
------------------- 
The Insider's View 
------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Pol-Mil officer met with FRONTEX's Weijermans to learn 
more about the organization's operations and possible areas 
for cooperation.  Weijermans announced a commitment to 
"operational cooperation" with border guard agencies so long 
as it was "intelligence driven," but was quick to distance 
FRONTEX from any commando-style armed action.  He highlighted 
FRONTEX's niche capability - risk analysis - which he said 
was at the core of the agency's flag-ship effort to stem the 
flow of illegal immigrants from North Africa through the 
Mediterranean by sharing intelligence on migration patterns 
(not personal data) with European border guard agencies.  On 
operational considerations, he acknowledged that the "joint 
return operations" mentioned in the Council Regulation were 
really "repatriations" of illegal immigrants.  In summary, he 
concluded that, "We coordinate and co-finance the voluntary 
participation of member states." 
 
¶4. (U) Weijermans illustrated FRONTEX's evolving role by 
commenting on hoped-for cooperation with Ukraine.  He noted 
that article 14 of the Council Regulation gave FRONTEX 
authority to facilitate cooperation with "third countries," 
i.e., states that are not in the EU.  He explained that the 
FRONTEX management board, a committee of senior border guard 
officials from participating EU member states, had approved a 
proposal to negotiate a "working agreement" on border guard 
cooperation with Ukraine.  As required, FRONTEX had forwarded 
the proposal to the EU Commission for their review. 
Weijermans expected that the EU Commission would approve and 
return the proposal to FRONTEX for implementation during the 
first half of 2007. 
 
------------------------------------ 
More "back office" than "front line" 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (U) COMMENT: Although FRONTEX has a mandate to facilitate 
"operational cooperation" and the "training of national 
border guards," Weijermans' comments indicate the agency 
pursues these aims through research, reporting and 
recommendations, rather than operations.  A quick reading of 
the Council Regulation founding FRONTEX, laden with terms 
like "analysis" and "research," confirms this.  Thus despite 
expectations by some European and U.S. observers that FRONTEX 
might become an operational office, it appears that, at least 
for now, the agency's staff are content to take a passive, 
documentary approach to their task.  END COMMENT. 
HILLAS