MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The EU border agency Frontex voiced its content on Wednesday with the European Parliament’s vote to jointly manage the bloc’s external frontiers, according to a statement published Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, the European Parliament has sided with the European Commission to create the European Border and Coast Guard Agency on the basis of Frontex.
"I am very pleased about today’s vote by the Parliament. While the new regulation still has to be approved by the Council of the European Union, we have already started intensive preparations for its implementation," Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri said in a statement.
He added that the transition from Frontex into the European Border and Coast Guard Agency would be gradual and would involve border and coast guard authorities in EU member states, other EU agencies as well as non-EU countries.
The proposal to create a border guard agency with powers greater than those enjoyed by the obsolete Frontex was floated by Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker at the height of the migrant crisis in September 2015.
