Remarks by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen and Commissioner Brunner on strengthening Frontex and the digitalisation of the return process

Executive Vice-President Virkkunen:

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this press point. We are here together with Magnus to share light on the two important milestones on European border management: a revised Frontex mandate and the digitalisation of returns.

The EU must ensure control of its external borders. A significant progress has been made over last years. The EU has established the world's most advanced border management system. Illegal border crossings are at their lowest levels since 2021—down 55% over the past two years.

Despite falling crossing numbers, migratory pressure remains. Geopolitical developments, hybrid threats, disinformation campaigns, and cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure continue to test border resilience.

Criminal smuggling networks are growing increasingly professional, adapting rapidly and utilizing new technologies and social media to coordinate unauthorized crossings.

Evolving threats require continuous action. Building on lessons from sudden arrivals like in Ceuta in summer 2026, we prioritize crisis anticipation, prevention, and rapid emergency response.

The Commission proposals open a new era for Frontex, with a revised mandate.

Capitalizing on the momentum of the Pact on Migration and Asylum and the newly adopted Return Regulation, the EU is deploying modern digital tools to ensure stronger coordination and effective returns.

Frontex already plays a critically important role in supporting Member States to manage Europe's external borders. Under the new rules, its mandate will be further reinforced, enabling it to act faster and more effectively. In addition, we will also make sure that Frontex has state-of-the-art equipment and technology at its disposal.

The proposal also seeks to address political and practical constraints identified in the current system. On border management, Member States need more flexible support, stronger operational capacity, improved planning and better access to equipment and surveillance tools.

The proposal also strengthens operational tools and strategic planning. The proposal also equips Frontex to support Member States in crisis and emergency situations more quickly and more flexibly.

It creates a quick Frontex reaction force, strengthens situational awareness and early warning, upgrades EUROSUR, and broadens the Agency's role in addressing hybrid threats affecting external borders. This is the concrete operational response to the demand for stronger border preparedness and resilience.

We will also create an Online monitoring and response centre to monitor publicly accessible social media content, detect developments relevant for external border management, and support action against illegal online content linked to border-security risks. Together, these tools significantly improve early warning, preparedness and crisis anticipation.

Let me highlight two elements from online aspects that stand out as major steps forward:

First, the proposal gives Frontex clear legal powers to act when identifying illegal content:

 through notices to the platforms, and – if designated as such by the competent national authority – as a trusted flagger under the DSA

And through requests to competent authorities in a Member State to issue orders a platform to provide information or to act against illegal content.

The DSA enforcement framework remains fully respected: Frontex can act within its mandate on detection and signalling and directly engage with and alert platforms of its findings.

Alongside the Frontex Regulation proposal, and following the entry into force of the new Return Regulation on 16 October, the Commission proposes today a new Regulation to digitalise return, readmission and reintegration procedures across the EU.

We want to modernize the handling of the return cases and speed up administrative processes, as well as improve data collection and data sharing.

New EU-level systems for readmission and reintegration are created, allowing secure information exchange on identification, travel documents, return operations and post-arrival support.

This means establishing a common digital backbone, connecting the relevant authorities, processes and tools.

Frontex will play a key role in the new common digital architecture, which will allow to manage the return process in a more efficient, cost-effective manner, simplifying procedures and reducing administrative burden.

The new reality requires new mandate for Frontex. With these two important proposals, we are significantly strengthening our external borders and support we can offer to the Member States.

The digital dimension is not a technical annex to the Frontex reform - it is one of its main political enablers. If the Union wants secure borders, effective returns and credible crisis response, it needs superior situational awareness, faster information flows, stronger interoperability and better operational data management.

Thank you, now over to Magnus. 

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Commissioner Brunner:

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me start by saying what we have already achieved together:

Our reforms are delivering. Illegal migration is down. Returns are up. Threats are being stopped at the border.

Our reforms of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, the safe countries of origin list and the safe third country concept and the other reforms are working. And our migration diplomacy is important.

And the numbers prove it. As Henna said, illegal border crossings are down significantly, let me give you some concrete figures:  Western Balkans: -95% since 2022, Western African andCentral Mediterranean -80% since 2023.

The new return rules are in force since October 16.

And also here, our active migration diplomacy is delivering results.

The new Entry/Exit System is a significant boost for our security.

In its first year, MS registered over 250 million entries and exits.

It turned away 80,000 people with no right to enter the EU directly at the border, which is 220 people every single day.

And most importantly: it stopped 2,000 people who posed a security threat, linked to terrorism or organised crime.

This leads me to today's proposal.

Because protecting our external borders is a fundamental task for any state.

It is a precondition for upholding our freedoms and security, so keeping EU citizens safe, but it is also about strengthening trust between Member States.

“We can only uphold our freedoms if we protect our external borders effectively.”

That is why today, we propose a stronger Frontex.

We must act before an event becomes a crisis; and it must be us to decide who can enter the EU, who can stay, and who must leave.

We have built strong foundations. Now we are strengthening Frontex, in three concrete ways.

First, of all, Frontex needs to be faster, more agile and better prepared

So we have to make Frontex ready to act before an event becomes a crisis.

We have examples of MS facing exceptional situations: hybrid threats – instrumentalisation of migration – mass illegal arrivals fuelled by smuggling gangs and online disinformation: they have unveiled the limitations in the Frontex mandate, sometimes preventing the agency to offer adequate support in such events.

We need to learn the lesson. Therefore, we propose for Frontex to detect dangerous trends early. For the first time, Frontex will have an explicit mandate to monitor social media for content that endangers people or border security.

Have better access to important information, so we can counter events before they become crises.

And very important: if there is a threat to our borders and therefore our security – there will be a quick reaction force to intervene very quickly -> we want Frontex to be there in hours, not in weeks!

We have to be clear: Our migration policy is only credible if we actually enforce it.

Since the start of this mandate, the EU has been working to fix this and to put in place a new common system.

And this Return Regulation is in force since 16 October.

And Frontex already does a lot and provides significant support in returns:

They carried out nearly 63,500 returns last year, chartered more than 220 flights, and assisted almost 20,000 people in reintegration.

But still, we can and must do better at returning those who have no right to stay in the EU.

That is why today, we propose to make Frontex the central EU actor on returns.

Frontex will be responsible for return-related support from A to Z: strategic planning, more cost-efficient return, and reintegration.

Today, we also propose a new Regulation to digitalise return.

This will reduce paperwork and administrative burden.

And we will have a clearer picture of what happens to people staying illegally in the EU.

And by the way, we are planning to do the same for our asylum procedures – more on that next year.

But we do not stop there: we are also adding a new tool for our migration diplomacy.

Of course, the main objective for Frontex will still be to increase returns from Member States, but we also introduce the ability for Frontex to support third countries on returns. So: carry out returns from third countries to other third countries.

This will only be possible, if there is an international agreement and where this is in the interest of the EU.

And finally, to deliver on all this, Frontex will be stronger, better equipped and better organised.

First, there will be more strategic planning to make sure that Frontex support goes where the Member States need it most.

Second, Frontex will train border guards across all Member States so that our external borders are protected everywhere to the same high standard.

And third, Frontex will support in other areas that are key to our border security. For example, with the new visa support office, it will help Member States tackle issues like document fraud.

So why are we doing all of this?

Because our borders face new challenges: orchestrated crossings, instrumentalisation, online disinformation, smuggling networks and changing routes, and hybrid threats. You name it.

No Member State can meet these challenges alone. Our response has to be faster, stronger and better coordinated.

That is what we deliver with today's proposal.

Frontex will be ready to respond before an event becomes a crisis.

And it will become the central EU actor on returns.

Strong external borders, firm and fair procedures, effective returns.

That is how we uphold our freedoms, keep our citizens safe and strengthen trust between Member States.