Ms Emily O'Reilly:

That is a member state issue. Obviously, I am aware that civil rights issues have been raised. The question always concerns appropriateness and balance and ensuring that measures that are introduced for a certain reason will not continue into the future if the reason they were introduced is no longer relevant. Frontex, as the agency is also known, has been very well resourced, including through soon having recruited 10,000 border guards, some of them armed. The implications for fundamental rights, if they are not monitored adequately, are significant. Many investigations, therefore, are ongoing into Frontex by the European Parliament. We are examining its complaints mechanism to ensure that it works and is real.

In a way, it could be seen as a proxy for the EU's attitude to fundamental rights, migration, asylum seekers and so on. It is the agency charged, in one way, with dealing with part of that problem. People might say it is the most acute one. Some member states or people might think that keeping people out, or the protection element, is emphasised and others want more emphasis on fundamental rights. It must be remembered that irrespective of people's opinions on what should be done, there are laws and regulations that govern its operation. It is also bound by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.