RECOMMENDATION on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of North Macedonia on operational activities carried[...]

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of North Macedonia on operational activities carried out by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency in the Republic of North Macedonia

(12895/2022 - C9-0369/2022 - 2022/0301(NLE))

(Consent)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the draft Council decision (12895/2022),

- having regard to the draft Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of North Macedonia on operational activities carried out by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency in the Republic of North Macedonia (12896/2022),

- having regard to the request for consent submitted by the Council in accordance with Article 77(2)(b) and (d), Article 79(2)(c) and Article 218(6), second subparagraph, point (a) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (C9-0369/2022),

- having regard to Rule 105(1) and (4) and Rule 114(7) of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the recommendation of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A9-0027/2023),

1. Gives its consent to the conclusion of the agreement;

2. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and of the Republic of North Macedonia.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

a. Background

The proposed Council Decision aims to approve the Status Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of North Macedonia on actions carried out by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency in the Republic of North Macedonia as foreseen in the Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 on the European Border and Coast Guard.

One of the tasks of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (the 'Agency') is to cooperate with third countries in relation to the areas covered by the European Border and Coast Guard Regulation 'including through the possible operational deployment of border management teams in third countries'. The Agency may cooperate with the authorities of third countries competent in matters covered by the Regulation to the extent required for the fulfilment of its tasks and may carry out actions related to European integrated border management on the territory of a third country subject to the agreement of that third country.

The purpose of the status agreement is to cover all aspects that are necessary for carrying out the actions of the Agency in third countries. Pursuant to Article 73(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1896, in circumstances requiring the deployment of border management teams from the European Border and Coast Guard standing corps to a third country where the members of the teams will exercise executive powers, a status agreement shall be concluded by the Union with the third country concerned.

In accordance with the European Border and Coast Guard Regulation and as referred to in Article 76(1)) of the Regulation, the Commission presented in its communication COM(2021) 829 a model status agreement as referred to in Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 containing specific provisions for conducting actions on the territory of third countries. The status agreement with North Macedonia is based on the model that the Commission has drawn up.

The Commission has briefed the rapporteurs on 17 January 2023 on the progress made in the status agreement negotiations between the European Union and the Republic of North Macedonia. The Agreement was signed on 26 September 2022 in Skopje.

b. Position of the Rapporteur

During the peak of the migration and refugee crisis in 2015, hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and migrants arrived in the European Union via the Western Balkans with North Macedonia lying on one of the primary routes for irregular mixed movement. This route is still active and the official number of irregular arrivals in North Macedonia in 2021 stands at 20 874.

The Rapporteur considers that the conclusion of formal, legally binding agreements in the framework of cooperation with third countries, as opposed to bilateral arrangement, is of crucial importance in order to ensure transparency, public scrutiny and democratic oversight on such cooperation. However, any agreements concluded between the European Union and third countries on actions carried out by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency should be carefully considered, have an added value and be strictly necessary and proportionate in terms of purpose and content.

Hence, this Status Agreement is crucial, not only in order to ensure transparency and accountability of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency's operational cooperation with third countries, but also in order to support the efforts of the authorities of North Macedonia and to ensure a clear framework for cooperation on the management of its external borders.

The Status Agreement should also ensure the protection of Fundamental Rights and stress the duty of team members to fully respect fundamental rights and freedoms, specifically as regards access to asylum procedures, human dignity and the prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, the right to liberty, the principle of non-refoulement and the prohibition of collective expulsions, the rights of the child and the right to respect for private and family life within the scope of the agreement.

Furthermore, the Agency and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of North Macedonia shall each have an incident reporting mechanism to allow timely reporting of any incident encountered in the course of an operational activity performed under the Agreement. The Agency's fundamental rights officer shall monitor each operational activity's compliance with applicable fundamental rights standards. The fundamental rights officer, or his or her deputy, may carry out on-the-spot visits to the third country; he or she shall also provide opinions on the operational plans and inform the Agency's executive director about possible violations of fundamental rights relating to an operational activity. The Republic of North Macedonia shall support the fundamental rights officer's monitoring efforts, as requested.

The Agency's executive director shall withdraw the financing of the relevant operational activity, and/or suspend or terminate it, after informing the Republic of North Macedonia if he or she considers that violations of fundamental rights or international protection obligations that are of a serious nature or are likely to persist have taken place or are likely to take place in relation to an operational activity performed under this Agreement.

In view of the conclusion of the Status Agreement, the Rapporteur calls on the Commission to promptly make available and public all the documents that are necessary for the Parliament to carry out its institutional work including the Fundamental Rights Assessment of the Republic of North Macedonia. This would ensure transparency and a proper public scrutiny and democratic oversight of such agreements.

As a conclusion, your Rapporteur finds that the proposed status agreement is consistent with the model status agreement as provided for in the Commission's communication on the content and provisions that should be included in the final agreement.

As this agreement enters into implementation phase, the Parliament requests that the European Border and Coast Guard Agency promptly informs the European Parliament of the activities conducted as part of the implementation of the Status Agreement and reminds the Agency of its obligation to include an assessment of the cooperation with third countries in its annual reports in accordance with article 73(8) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1896.

In light of the above, the rapporteur recommends that Parliament endorse the draft Council Decision text.

PROCEDURE - COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

Key to symbols:

+ : in favour

- : against

0 : abstention