Policing the EU’s external border: legitimacy and accountability under scrutiny

Abstract

The article carries out an analysis of the operational legitimacy and political accountability of the two EU agencies responsible for securing the EU’s external border: Frontex and Europol. Using the multifaceted criteria of legitimacy and accountability developed by David Beetham and Mark Bovens, the author examines legitimacy from several perspectives (normative, demonstrative, administrative and social) as well as the realities and prospects of political accountability. He concludes that both agencies demonstrated poor demonstrative legitimacy, weak parliamentary political accountability and insufficient legal safeguards. The Lisbon Treaty has improved the legal and parliamentary accountability of Frontex and Europol. However, the reform should not be expected to have a substantial effect and change the current status-quo unless member-states move from the inter-governmental mind-set to the supranational logic in the area of law-enforcement cooperation.