Frontex on ✻ Trym Nohr Fjørtoft

Symmetry in the delegation of power as a legitimacy criterion

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract

The EU’s power is expanding, calling for reassessments of its normative legitimacy. This article proposes a novel criterion for assessing the EU’s legitimacy: symmetry in the delegation of power. We illustrate the usefulness of this criterion through an analysis of the European border regime. Existing analyses of the border regime have tended to dismiss it as weak and intergovernmental. We show, to the contrary, that it is both strong and weak. The EU wields significant power in border control but lacks power altogether in immigration policy. This asymmetry has rendered the EU incapable of discharging the moral responsibilities that arise in migration control, posing a novel legitimacy challenge. Finally, we argue that the symmetry criterion generalises and can shed light on the EU’s legitimacy beyond the area of migration.

The Legitimizing Role of Expertise in Frontex after the Refugee Crisis

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract

This article explores how the appeal to depoliticized expertise worked to legitimize increased supervisory and executive power to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, after the 2015 refugee crisis. Frontex is an EU agency operating in a highly salient field, removed from hard‐science “gold standards” of evidence, where member states have been reluctant to delegate power and sovereignty. Through a process‐tracing case study, this article finds that appeals to technical neutrality, quantification, and objective indicators nevertheless were central when a new mandate for the agency was negotiated, giving Frontex unprecedented supervisory and executive power. They were also important resources for member states concerned about Frontex’s increased powers. By focusing on an agency at a remove from the natural‐science archetype, this article contributes to the literature on knowledge use in independent agencies. It suggests that technical expertise can be a powerful source of legitimacy even in a field removed from “hard” science.

Farligere enn noensinne

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

An interview in Klassekampen (in Norwegian) about the allegations against Frontex’s involvement in illegal pushbacks.

Interview in Vårt land

Fri, 28 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

An interview in Vårt Land (in Norwegian) about Front-Lex taking Frontex to the CJEU.

The appeal to expertise in Frontex

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s a blog post I wrote for the TARN blog in 2020. It builds on the same ideas and research as my Regulation & Governance piece.

The refugee crisis and its aftermath

In 2015, many European states experienced a massive influx of migrants and refugees seeking protection within their borders. The European Refugee crisis was a crisis in many respects—first and foremost for the people forced to flee their homes, but also for the institution tasked with managing the EU’s external borders. That institution is Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

Morgenbladet

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Interview in Morgenbladet (in Norwegian) about Frontex’s alleged involvement in illegal pushbacks.

The EU looks to the external borders

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

An interview in Klassekampen (in Norwegian) about Frontex and its expanding mandate.