Experimentalist but not Accountable Governance? The Role of Frontex in Managing the EU's External Borders

Pollak, Johannes; Slominski, Peter

doi:10.1080/01402380903064754

Cited by 62 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The conclusions reflect upon whether the agency instrument has made management of border control more legitimate compared to the earlier network approach of the SCIFA+/ PCU. This study combines earlier work on the added value of EU agencies (Schout, 2008(Schout, , 2011(Schout, , 2012 and research on Frontex and the EU's border control policies (see Carrera, 2007;Wolff, 2008Wolff, , 2010Pollak & Slominski, 2009;Leonard, 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…It is difficult to access Frontex documents, except for its general annual report and risk analysis report and working arrangements with third countries are not available. Pollak and Slominski (2009) conclude that 'Frontex has continued the culture of secrecy'. The only transparency mechanisms, again similar to other EU institutions and therefore also the Council, is that Frontex is subject to Regulation No.…”

Section: The Added-value Of Frontexmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The creation of Frontex, its accountability and the legal uncertainties regarding its operations have attracted a lot of attention (Wolff, 2008(Wolff, , 2010Leonard, 2009;Neal, 2009;Rijpma, 2007;Pollak & Slominski, 2009;Carrera, 2007Carrera, , 2010, this study aims at comparing accountability mechanisms between the earlier structure of SCIFA + / PCU to Frontex. This study helps to test whether the creation of an agency was a policy innovation and whether it enabled more autonomy and professionalization compared to the previous intergovernmental Council working group.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Frontex as Agency: More of the Same?

Wolff

Schout

2013

Perspectives on European Politics and Society

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Building on the notion of 'agencies' as non-majoritarian instruments to professionalize (or 'depoliticisize') EU policy-making, this article examines whether the introduction of Frontex as an agency instrument in 2004 implied a major change in the management of the EU's border control compared to the earlier network. Even though formal evaluations have acknowledged the positive achievements of Frontex, this article questions whether those assessments actually helps us to understand better the added value of Frontex as agency. To do so, the article draws from a legitimacy-based model to assess the added value of the agency. Input and output legitimacy are being assessed through a number of accountability mechanisms. The model is applied to predecessor of Frontex (SCIFA + /PCU) and to Frontex. We conclude that the choice for the agency instrument was not sufficiently argued and that the design of Frontex hardly offers the advantages of the agency structure.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: The Added-value Of Frontexmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Frontex as Agency: More of the Same?

Wolff

Schout

2013

Perspectives on European Politics and Society

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“…The present research project therefore relies upon a novel interpretation of EU governance known as 'experimentalist governance' (Sabel & Zeitlin, 2010;Pollak & Slominski, 2009). It highlights the importance of strategic uncertainty and recursive interactions between different hierarchical levels in the definition of policy targets and instruments.…”

Section: Conceptualizing Europol's Role In Eu Policy-makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Europol and its Influence on EU Policy-making on Organized Crime: Analyzing Governance Dynamics and Opportunities

Carrapiço

Trauner

2013

Perspectives on European Politics and Society

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While issues relating to the development, legitimacy and accountability of the European Police Office, Europol, have been intensively discussed in political and academic circles, the actual impact of Europol on policy-making in the European Union has yet to receive scholarly attention. By investigating the evolution and the role of Europol's organized crime reports, this article elaborates on whether Europol has been able to exert an influence beyond its narrowly defined mandate. Theoretically informed by the assumptions of experimentalist governance, the article argues that the different legal systems and policing traditions of EU member states have made it difficult for the EU to agree on a common understanding on how to fight against organized crime. This lack of consensus, which has translated into a set of vague and broadly formulated framework goals and guidelines, has enabled Europol to position its Organized Crime Threat Assessments as the point of reference in the respective EU policy-making area. Europol's interest in improving its institutional standing thereby converged with the interest of different member states to use Europol as a socialization platform to broadcast their ideas and to 'Europeanize' their national counter-organized crime policy.

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“…It works within a weakly formalized environment, in which administrative elites pursue their own interests and policy goals without having to fear intervention from parliaments and courts. This kind of “experimentalist governance” contributes to policy outcomes and the building of trust in highly contested areas, “but it may at the same time challenge established patterns of accountability” (Pollak and Slominski 2009:916).…”

Section: Supranational Border Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

State Project Europe: The Transformation of the European Border Regime and the Production of Bare Life

Buckel¹,

Wissel²

2010

International Political Sociology

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Giorgio Agamben refers to a basic problem in the constitution of the modern nation state: the state as a nation implies that “bare life” becomes the foundation of sovereignty. With the loss of their citizenship, refugees lose not only all their rights, but more fundamentally the “right to have rights” (Arendt). This dilemma of modern statehood does not vanish under conditions of European integration; it is rather re‐scaled. Applying a state‐theoretical approach to the European border regime, we will concentrate on the two main techniques by which the EU produces “bare life”: the “camp” and the invisible “police state.” It will become apparent that the institutionalization of “the right of every human being to belong to mankind” is still lacking. Yet, in contrast to Agamben, we do not trace this constellation back to the collapse of the concept of human rights, but to hegemonies and power relations.

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Experimentalist but not Accountable Governance? The Role of Frontex in Managing the EU's External Borders

Cited by 62 publications

References 25 publications

Frontex as Agency: More of the Same?

Frontex as Agency: More of the Same?

Europol and its Influence on EU Policy-making on Organized Crime: Analyzing Governance Dynamics and Opportunities

State Project Europe: The Transformation of the European Border Regime and the Production of Bare Life

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