Frontex actions : out of control? : the complexity of composite decision-making procedures

Abstract

Frontex operations can have important consequences on an individual’s life, and they should consequently be subject to an efficient control in order to offer adequate legal protection to the victims. These operations include the participation of the agency, but also various other actors. They offer thus an interesting case-study on the relationship between an EU agency and other participating actors.

The paper seeks to shed the light on the actions coordinated by Frontex, thereby illustrating the composite nature of Frontex decision-making procedures and operations. The objective of this article is to analyse the legal and administrative implications of Frontex operations as they manifest before the European, international and domestic courts. In the end, the paper will offer a case study, in which the legal and administrative implications explored above will be mapped onto the new phenomenon of ‘hotspots’. The aim is to elucidate the impact of these considerations in an ever more complex and fragmented multi-actor situation that ‘hotspots’ represent.