On 2 June 2017, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), along with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) presented the results of the pilot project “Creation of a European coastguard function”, in a Closing Workshop held at the premises of EMSA in Lisbon. The event gathered more than 110 participants from various European and national entities.
The 18 months pilot project was launched in January 2016, in order to provide the test bed for the co-operation mechanism proposed by the Commission within the framework of the European border and coastguard package.
The project aimed to raise cross-sectorial awareness of Frontex, EMSA and EFCA’s activities between the three Agencies and amongst pilot project stakeholders and to create operational and technical synergies between different coastguard functions at EU level.
In the framework of the project, the three Agencies explored and tested ways to further enhance their cooperation in four areas:
- sharing of information generated by fusing and analysing vessel movement and earth observation data
- providing surveillance and communication services based on state-of-the-art technology
- capacity building
- capacity sharing including multipurpose operations and the sharing of assets and capabilities across sectors and borders
The cooperation among EMSA, EFCA and Frontex aims to enable them to support the activities of more than 300 civilian and military authorities in the EU Member States, responsible for carrying out coastguard functions in a wide range of areas, such as maritime safety, security, search and rescue, border control, fisheries control, customs control, general law enforcement and environmental protection.
