Refashioning Frontex and Return Operations in Third Countries: Legal Constraints and Operational Prospects

Salvo Nicolosi, Associate Professor and Jean Monnet Chair in European Law and Migration Policies, Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance, Utrecht University Photo credit: Rock Cohen, via Wikimedia Commons With the entry into application of the Pact on Migration and Asylum (COM/2020/609) on 12 June 2026, the legislative compass has shifted to the complementary area of the return policy, with the adoption of the Return Regulation 2026/2280 and the European Commission’s unveiling of the proposal to amend the Regulation on the European Border and Coast Guard (COM/2026/1030), on 27 October 2026. Such a proposal, which marks the fifth round of changes to the mandate of Frontex (the European Border and Coast Guard Agency) since its establishment by Regulation (EC) 2007/2004, aims to strengthen Frontex’s mandate, including in supporting Member States with returns, and to reinforce its standing corps. As highlighted by the European Commission in its 2026 State of Schengen Report (COM/2026/…

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