Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the UK plans to seek (a) observer status at or (b) formal participation in the European Border and Coast Guard Agency after the UK has left the EU.

Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, builds on provisions of the Schengen agreement in which the UK does not participate. The UK is not therefore bound by the European Border and Coast Guard Regulation although we are supportive of steps to increase the security of the external Schengen border and currently participate in Frontex operations on a voluntary basis.

We have a strong interest in effective management of the external border, not just in combating illegal migration and cross-border crime, but also as part of the EU-wide counter-terrorism effort.

Our future cooperation with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency will be considered as part of wider negotiations for the UK’s exit from the EU.