EU border agency to buy €400 million worth of equipment to control migration

The EU border agency Frontex has announced a tender for the purchase of equipment, including unmanned aerial vehicles and other surveillance technologies, amid calls from member states to strengthen the protection of external borders against illegal migration.

In response to EU members, Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson seems to be following up on their request to enhance the EU external borders, as reported by Euractiv.

In May and June letters to the European Commission, member states called on the EU executive to step up efforts to combat illegal migration.

In her speech in the European Parliament before her re-election as President of the European Commission in July, Ursula von der Leyen announced her plan to triple the Frontex staff and appoint a Commissioner for the Mediterranean to fight migration.

In addition, this summer Frontex announced a number of tenders aimed at strengthening the agency’s capacity along the EU’s external borders.

In particular, tenders were announced for the purchase of drones and related services for maritime surveillance worth €184 million, surveillance equipment, including night vision goggles worth €19 million, information and communication technology services worth €186.5 million, and a €3 million pilot project for the use of drones at land borders for joint operations with Bulgaria.

The total amount is nearly €400 million.

The tenders held this summer indicate the expansion of Frontex’s drone capabilities, with the goal of deploying drones for border surveillance on a large scale and in a consistent manner.

To improve migration coordination between EU member nations, the EU Border Surveillance System EUROSUR was set up in 2013 as a 24/7 surveillance framework, for the EU’s external borders, providing a situational overview with real-time data, including “pre-frontier” areas outside the EU’s borders. 

Earlier, 15 European Union member states, led by Denmark, urged the European Commission to support a plan that would send illegal migrants to third countries in order to address the migration crisis.

In May, the EU finally adopted migration reform, which will fully come into force in two years.