EU plans 'rapid reaction' border control force

The EU unveiled plans on Tuesday for a new border and coast guard agency that could intervene even without the host country's consent, saying it had to restore security threatened by the refugee crisis.

The new force will have a "standing reserve" of 1,500 border guards who can be quickly deployed, unlike the current Frontex agency which relies on asking member states for contributions, it said.

"We cannot exclude that there will still be exceptional situations where a member state is for whichever reason unable to cope with a situation on its own," the European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said.

"In such rare cases the agency must be able to quickly step in and assume the management of that specific part of the shared external border," he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

"This is a safety net which, like all safety nets, we hope will never need to be used. But it is essential to restore the credibility of our border management system."

Nearly one million refugees and migrants have crossed Europe's borders in 2015, mostly people fleeing the war in Syria. The majority have come to Greece on the short sea crossing from Turkey.

But with many migrants then trying to get to Germany, Europe's passport-free Schengen area has been under huge strain, with many states temporarily bringing back border controls.

EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said that where Frontex used to be limited to supporting member states with border security, the new agency would go "beyond" that.

"The border package we are presenting today will increase security for our citizens and ensure high standards of border management," Avramopoulos said.

Up for discussion

EU leaders will discuss the new plan - which has been drawn up by the Commission, the EU's powerful executive arm - at a summit on Thursday and Friday, European Council President Donald Tusk said.

"We must regain control over our external borders to stem migratory flows and to preserve Schengen," Tusk said in his invitation letter to leaders.

Some member states in the 28-nation EU are hostile to the idea of a plan that could see them cede sovereignty over their own land and sea borders to bureaucrats in Brussels.

And the plan faces being severely watered down by EU member states before the as yet unnamed agency comes into effect.

Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said on Monday that the replacement of Warsaw-based Frontex "by a structure that is independent of member states is shocking".

Rights group Amnesty International said the EU border guard plan "must not be at the expense of migrant and refugee rights".