FRONTEX – Legitimate Agent for Border Security or Ruthless Deportation Agency? : An Analysis of the Activities of the European Union’s Border Agency with a Special Focus on Legitimacy and Controllability of its Operations

In 2006, the European Commission published a communication calling for the reinforced management of the EU's Southern maritime borders and for strengthening the capacities of the European agency concerned with guarding the EU’s external borders: FRONTEX. Today the agency possesses a very wide range of tools to supervise and co-ordinate a common effective approach to protect the EU’s external borders. It is the key player of European border management at sea, land and air. Against this, civil society and the media criticize the lack of transparency of FRONTEX’ work, claim violations of human rights at European borders, and critique the lack of accountability regarding the European Parliament. Some are as well proposing to cease its activities. With the help of Scharpf’s legitimacy theory and his distinction between input- and output legitimacy the objective of this thesis is to discuss if FRONTEX can be considered a legitimate border agency or not. In this regard FRONTEX will be examined in three frames. It’s public perception, meaning the media coverage and civil society concerns with regard to its work. FRONTEX ‘in action’ which will be a closer look at how FRONTEX is working and how it is embedded in European border management and thirdly in a more theoretical discourse the role of the Member States’ governments as well as the potential for the European Parliament to strengthen the controllability and accountability of FORNTEX. A final outlook on avenues for more parliamentary control will round of the thesis.