How Do the Main EU Border and Asylum Agencies, Frontex and EASO, Establish, Develop and Pursue their Relations with Third Countries?

Abstract

With the current “migration crisis”, the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) has gotten considerable public attention due to its role in border control, immigration and asylum. The EU has used its shared competence extensively, creating a common visa and immigration law regime, a common European asylum system, and a border control regime. However, this “highly complex matrix of laws and policies” is seen by many as a fragmented and mal- implemented common framework. Besides the evolving normative body, the AFSJ has experienced institutional change with the creation of EU specialized agencies, which now play a significant role in the implementation and development of AFSJ policies. Since migration was originally an internal policy, the law doesn’t provide for an express general external competence. However, as external action is necessary to achieve the treaty objectives, it has been operationalized in a series of action plans and strategy documents. Some important ones are the 2011 Global Approach to Migration and Mobility and the 2015 European Agenda on Migration. The internal and external dimensions in the AFSJ are closely linked. Migratory pressure has called for a stronger EU response and EU external action in migration and asylum has increased accordingly. While much of the action is taken by the Commission, the High Representative and Vice-President, EEAS and Member States, this paper concentrates on the role of the main EU border and asylum agencies, to understand how Frontex and EASO, establish, develop and pursue their relations with Third Countries.