Iskanje po preiskavah

The complainant sought access to detailed information on two of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency’s (Frontex) joint operations that it carried out in Greece and in Spain. In particular, the complainant asked for the number of Greek and Spanish co-financed assets and for a detailed breakdown per month and per profile of the assets and officers deployed.

Frontex refused to provide the requested detailed information arguing that it was sensitive operational information and that its disclosure could jeopardise Frontex’s future operational activities.

The complainant considered that this was a generic justification that Frontex often uses to refuse access to information and to documents. She further argued that the Commission had already disclosed some of the information requested.

The Ombudsman asked Frontex to set out, in line with the EU legislation on access to documents, why it considered that it could not disclose the requested data. The Ombudsman inquiry team also met with representatives of Frontex to receive more detailed explanations on how disclosure of the requested information could hamper Frontex’s ongoing and future operations.

Frontex argued that such a detailed breakdown of the assets and human resources deployed would allow criminal networks to draw a comprehensive picture on the strengths and/or weaknesses of Frontex’s deployments. As operational areas change only marginally, this type of information would enable such criminal networks to draw conclusions on Frontex’s operational focus in current and future operations.

The Ombudsman found that Frontex’s explanations were reasonable and supported by EU case-law. She thus closed the inquiry finding no maladministration.

V tej preiskavi na lastno pobudo je bilo ocenjeno, kako Evropska agencija za mejno in obalno stražo (Frontex) izpolnjuje svoje obveznosti v zvezi s temeljnimi pravicami in preglednostjo v skladu z Uredbo 2019/1896 (uredba o agenciji Frontex), ki je razširila njene pristojnosti.

V okviru preiskave je bilo preučeno, kako agencija Frontex zagotavlja preglednost svojih „operativnih načrtov“, ki opredeljujejo parametre njenih operacij, in kako se odloči za odlog, prekinitev ali neizvedbo dejavnosti zaradi pomislekov glede spoštovanja temeljnih pravic. V okviru preiskave so bili ocenjeni tudi spremljanje spoštovanja temeljnih pravic pri prisilnem vračanju in smernice agencije Frontex za varnostno preverjanje posameznikov brez dokumentov, ki nezakonito prečkajo ali skušajo prečkati zunanjo mejo EU.

Na podlagi preiskave je varuhinja človekovih pravic agenciji Frontex predstavila niz predlogov za povečanje njene odgovornosti. Varuhinja človekovih pravic spodbuja agencijo Frontex, naj bo proaktivno pregledna v zvezi z operativnimi načrti in analizo temeljnih pravic, na podlagi katere njen izvršni direktor sprejme odločitve o izvedbi, odlogu ali prekinitvi operacij. Predlaga, naj agencija Frontex izda posebna navodila „ekipam za preverjanje“, ki opravljajjo razgovore z begunci. Varuhinja človekovih pravic agencijo Frontex tudi spodbuja, naj izboljša spremljanje prisilnih vrnitev, pri katerih vrnjene osebe spremljajo člani njenega osebja, ter zagotovi boljše poročanje o operacijah za spremljanje.