Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2016 on the European Border and Coast Guard and amending Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Regulation (EC) No 863/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004 and Council Decision 2005/267/EC
Modified by
  • Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 13 November 2019on the European Border and Coast Guard and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1052/2013 and (EU) 2016/1624, 32019R1896, November 14, 2019
Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 14 September 2016on the European Border and Coast Guard and amending Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Regulation (EC) No 863/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004 and Council Decision 2005/267/EC CHAPTER IEuropean Border and Coast Guard
Article 1Subject matterThis Regulation establishes a European Border and Coast Guard to ensure European integrated border management at the external borders with a view to managing the crossing of the external borders efficiently. This includes addressing migratory challenges and potential future threats at those borders, thereby contributing to addressing serious crime with a cross-border dimension, to ensure a high level of internal security within the Union in full respect for fundamental rights, while safeguarding the free movement of persons within it.
Article 2DefinitionsFor the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:(1)"external borders" means external borders as defined in point 2 of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399, to which Title II of that Regulation applies;(2)"border control" means border control as defined in point 10 of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399;(3)"border guard" means border guard as defined in point 14 of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399;(4)"European Border and Coast Guard teams" means teams of border guards and other relevant staff from participating Member States, including border guards and other relevant staff who are seconded as national experts by Member States to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, to be deployed during joint operations, rapid border interventions as well as in the framework of migration management support teams;(5)"host Member State" means a Member State in which a joint operation or a rapid border intervention, a return operation or a return intervention takes place, or from which it is launched, or in which a migration management support team is deployed;(6)"home Member State" means the Member State of which a member of a European Border and Coast Guard team is a border guard or other relevant staff member;(7)"participating Member State" means a Member State which participates in a joint operation, rapid border intervention, return operation, return intervention or in a deployment of a migration management support team, by providing technical equipment, border guards and other relevant staff deployed as part of the European Border and Coast Guard teams, as well as a Member State which participates in return operations or return interventions by providing technical equipment or staff, but which is not a host Member State;(8)"member of the teams" means a member of the European Border and Coast Guard teams or teams of staff involved in return-related tasks participating in return operations or return interventions;(9)"migration management support team" means a team of experts which provide technical and operational reinforcement to Member States at hotspot areas and which is composed of experts deployed from Member States by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and by the European Asylum Support Office, and from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Europol or other relevant Union agencies;(10)"hotspot area" means an area in which the host Member State, the Commission, relevant Union agencies and participating Member States cooperate, with the aim of managing an existing or potential disproportionate migratory challenge characterised by a significant increase in the number of migrants arriving at the external borders;(11)"return" means return as defined in point 3 of Article 3 of Directive 2008/115/EC;(12)"return decision" means an administrative or judicial decision or act, stating or declaring the stay of a third-country national to be illegal and imposing or stating an obligation to return that respects Directive 2008/115/EC;(13)"returnee" means an illegally staying third-country national who is the subject of a return decision issued by a Member State;(14)"return operation" means an operation that is coordinated by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and involves technical and operational reinforcement being provided by one or more Member States under which returnees from one or more Member States are returned either on a forced or voluntary basis;(15)"return intervention" means an activity of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency providing Member States with enhanced technical and operational assistance consisting of the deployment of European return intervention teams to Member States and the organisation of return operations;(16)"cross-border crime" means any serious crime with a cross-border dimension committed at or along, or which is related to, the external borders.
Article 3European Border and Coast Guard1.The European Border and Coast Guard Agency ("the Agency") and the national authorities of Member States which are responsible for border management, including coast guards to the extent that they carry out border control tasks, shall constitute the European Border and Coast Guard.2.The Agency shall, by decision of the management board based on a proposal of the executive director, establish a technical and operational strategy for European integrated border management. The Agency shall take into account, where justified, the specific situation of the Member States, in particular their geographical location. This strategy shall be in line with Article 4. It shall promote and support the implementation of European integrated border management in all Member States.3.The national authorities which are responsible for border management, including coast guards to the extent that they carry out border control tasks, shall establish their national strategies for integrated border management. Those national strategies shall be in line with Article 4 and the strategy referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article.
Article 4European integrated border managementEuropean integrated border management shall consist of the following components:(a)border control, including measures to facilitate legitimate border crossings and, where appropriate, measures related to the prevention and detection of cross-border crime, such as migrant smuggling, trafficking in human beings and terrorism, and measures related to the referral of persons who are in need of, or wish to apply for, international protection;(b)search and rescue operations for persons in distress at sea launched and carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 656/2014 of the European Parliament and the CouncilRegulation (EU) No 656/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 establishing rules for the surveillance of the external sea borders in the context of operational cooperation coordinated by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Members States of the European Union (OJ L 189, 27.6.2014, p. 93). and with international law, taking place in situations which may arise during border surveillance operations at sea;(c)analysis of the risks for internal security and analysis of the threats that may affect the functioning or security of the external borders;(d)cooperation between Member States supported and coordinated by the Agency;(e)inter-agency cooperation among the national authorities in each Member State which are responsible for border control or for other tasks carried out at the border and among the relevant Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies; including the regular exchange of information through existing information exchange tools, such as the European Border Surveillance System ("EUROSUR") established by Regulation (EU) No 1052/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) No 1052/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 establishing the European Border Surveillance System (Eurosur) (OJ L 295, 6.11.2013, p. 11).;(f)cooperation with third countries in the areas covered by this Regulation, focusing in particular on neighbouring countries and on those third countries which have been identified through risk analysis as being countries of origin and/or transit for illegal immigration;(g)technical and operational measures within the Schengen area which are related to border control and designed to address illegal immigration and to counter cross-border crime better;(h)return of third-country nationals who are the subject of return decisions issued by a Member State;(i)use of state-of-the-art technology including large-scale information systems;(j)a quality control mechanism, in particular the Schengen evaluation mechanism and possible national mechanisms, to ensure the implementation of Union legislation in the area of border management;(k)solidarity mechanisms, in particular Union funding instruments.
Article 5Shared responsibility1.The European Border and Coast Guard shall implement European integrated border management as a shared responsibility of the Agency and of the national authorities responsible for border management, including coast guards to the extent that they carry out maritime border surveillance operations and any other border control tasks. Member States shall retain primary responsibility for the management of their sections of the external borders.2.Member States shall ensure the management of their external borders, in their own interests and in the common interest of all Member States in full compliance with Union law and in line with the technical and operational strategy referred to in Article 3(2), in close cooperation with the Agency.3.The Agency shall support the application of Union measures relating to the management of the external borders by reinforcing, assessing and coordinating the actions of Member States in the implementation of those measures and in return.
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