European Border and Coast Guard Agency takes first step to fulfil its strengthened mandate

Today the European Border and Coast Guard Agency will take the first step towards fulfilling its strengthened mandate as it begins to recruit border guards for its own standing corps. In April, the EU agreed that the centrepiece of the reinforced Agency would be a standing corps of 10,000 border guards – ready to be deployed to support Member States at any time. The European Border and Coast Guard standing corps- Europe’s first uniformed service – will carry out border control and migration management tasks to assist EU Member States facing migratory pressure. It will replace the 1,300 officers from a variety of European countries currently deployed by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency at the external borders. The standing corps will assist in conducting identity and document checks, border surveillance and return of people who no longer have the right to stay the European Union. The first border guards will be ready to take on their new tasks in January 2021.