External borders: mandate of the Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (FRONTEX)

The Council looked at the state-of-play of discussions on the revision of the rules concerning the European external borders agency Frontex.

Some of the issues outstanding include:

• monitoring in the context of return cooperation;
• the processing of personal data collected by member states for the purpose of risk analysis in the context of operational activities coordinated by the agency; and
• the involvement of third countries, EU agencies and international organisations in Frontex activities.

The presidency intends to start negotiations with the European Parliament in the coming weeks. The goal is to reach agreement before the summer in line with the conclusions of the European Council of 24 March 2011.