EU to let Frontex deport migrants from outside Europe, plan due Tuesday
The European Commission wants to turn Frontex into the EU's central returns agency. The border agency would also help carry out deportations from non-EU countries.
Symbolic image · Photo: AGC Glass Europe / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
The European Commission is due on Tuesday to present a legislative proposal that would significantly expand the powers of the EU border agency Frontex. Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner wants Frontex to become the EU's "central deportation agency". "Anyone who has no right to stay in the EU must actually leave it," he told Germany's Welt am Sonntag. Brunner and Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen are expected to unveil the plan after the College meeting, Euronews reported.
According to EU officials quoted by Euronews, Frontex would be able to help authorities in third countries, such as in North Africa, return migrants to their countries of origin before they reach Europe. The plan also foresees Frontex taking part in deportations from so-called return hubs, a rapid-response force and a unit monitoring social media. Under the EU's next seven-year budget the agency is to receive 12 billion euros, double its previous allocation. Any cooperation with a third country would require a specific agreement.
According to Agenzia Nova, reporting on the interview, more than 30 percent of migrants under removal orders were returned in the first ten months of 2026, up from 20 percent in the same period of 2025. Critics warn of risks to fundamental rights. "It's a deportation agency, increasingly operating far away from the actual border of the EU," said Josephine Solanki, a researcher at the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute.