EPP calls for better, EU-wide external border protection after Ceuta crisis

EPP leaders have called for stronger external border protection and the transformation of Frontex into a genuine European border guard agency in the wake of the mass migrant crossings into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta.

In an opinion piece published on August 10 in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, European People’s Party (EPP) President Manfred Weber, who also leads the EPP group in the European Parliament, said the late-July events in Ceuta demonstrated that close cooperation with neighbouring countries can work, as Morocco rapidly took back most of the tens of thousands who had entered the territory, preventing onward movement into the Schengen area.

He argued that Europe must now move quickly to establish return hubs in Africa.

Countries that cooperate could be offered closer trade relations, economic collaboration and opportunities for legal migration, he wrote, describing these as substantial offers the EU could put on the table.

“Migrants who have no right to remain must leave Europe — without ifs, ands or buts.”

Returns, he added, should no longer depend on the political will of individual member states. A clear mandate for the European Commission was needed so that progress would not wait for the slowest member state.

Weber also rejected internal border controls as a long-term solution, insisting the only sustainable answer is robust joint protection of the EU’s external borders.

He called for Frontex to be strengthened into a true European border and coast guard agency equipped with adequate personnel, resources and powers.

Weber specifically proposed a force of 50,000 officers working alongside national authorities. Under the 2019 regulation that created the European Border and Coast Guard, Frontex is due to reach a standing corps of 10,000 by 2027.

Independent and unannounced checks at border posts to verify compliance with EU rules should become standard, he said. Where national authorities proved unwilling to protect the borders, he added, Frontex should be given command authority.

Italian foreign minister and deputy prime minister Antonio Tajani publicly endorsed the proposals.

In a post on X he wrote that the EU must defend its external borders together, reinforce Frontex as a genuine European border agency, fight trafficking organisations relentlessly, establish return hubs in Africa and accelerate the repatriation of those without the right to stay.

He also stressed deeper cooperation with countries of origin and transit through investment, training and legal migration pathways that benefit European economies.

“Ceuta has served as a test case and a lesson: the fight against illegal immigration is a shared responsibility,” Tajani said.

“Unilateral decisions by individual countries cannot shift the consequences onto partner countries. Immigration is managed together. Europe must protect its borders.”

The Ceuta crossings began on July 30. Spain’s interior ministry has put at some 72,000 the number of people who entered irregularly in the final days of the month, while Morocco has given a lower figure of about 40,000 for Ceuta. Most of those who entered returned to Morocco within days through coordinated action between Spanish and Moroccan authorities, with around 48,500 back across the border by August 1.

At least 75 people died, most of them by drowning near the Tarajal breakwater. The city government of Ceuta put the toll at 88 on August 3, while the NGO Caminando Fronteras has counted 141, a figure that includes bodies recovered in Moroccan waters.

The episode triggered tensions within the Schengen area. Italy suspended the Schengen agreement with Spain on August 1, closing its sea and air borders and restoring checks at ports and airports on arrivals from Spain for an initial period of one month. Madrid called the decision incomprehensible.

EU interior ministers held an emergency videoconference on August 4, convened at the request of 22 member states led by Italy and Denmark. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni set out their support for return centres outside Europe in a joint statement. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Spain to step up its fight against illegal migration.

Weber’s intervention builds on earlier proposals by EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner and recent EU rules facilitating returns, including to third-country hubs, which were approved by a right-wing majority in the European Parliament on June 17 by 418 votes to 218, with 30 abstentions. Ministers are due to return to the file in October before it reaches EU leaders in the European Council.