The Normative Gap at EU External Borders
There is a normative gap at the core of the EU’s legal order. This gap concerns the lives and fundamental rights of countless vulnerable persons, depriving tens of thousands victims of judicial remedy in EU Courts. By challenging the restrictive lex lata governing the access of victims to Court, this project aspires to enhance human rights protection at EU external borders.
The Eastern Mediterranean is the case study of this project. In 2020, more than 10,000 toddlers, women and men were kidnapped from EU soil or waters by EU agents. This civilian population was then forcibly transferred to and abandoned at sea on unworthy rafts – with no means of navigation, communication, food, water and, at times, no life vests.
Frontex finances, draft the operational plan and coordinates this ongoing policy. Frontex detects, intercepts and hands over the targeted civilian population to Greek forces who complete the collective expulsion operation.
This policy triggers individual (ICC) and state (ECtHR) responsibility. But to date, Frontex enjoys full organizational impunity (CJEU). This project aims to bridge this normative gap by providing the roadmap to hold to account the most important, and infamous, EU law enforcement agency.