FRONTEX and fundamental rights: reflections in the light of recent practice

The increased operational powers attributed to the European Border and Coast Guard (Frontex) have made it increasingly urgent to identify mechanisms for monitoring respect for fundamental rights in the Agency’s actions. In this paper, the Agency’s external control mechanisms and the implementation practice that has developed in recent years have been addressed. Thus, the external judicial and non-judicial mechanisms have been analysed separately in order to assess the adequacy of existing instruments to ensure effective protection of the fundamental rights of migrants with which Frontex interacts in the performance of the tasks entrusted to it.