The outgoing European Commission President has shared plans for the establishment of a revamped European Border and Coast Guard Service with greater responsibilities, authority, and personnel numbers. The plan seeks to increase the number of personnel to a standing force of 10,000 and give the body greater jurisdiction in the management of refugees and migrants. The proposed changes require the approval of EU members, an approval that may or may not occur. The plan does not include internal border checks, which have become a point of contention between several EU governments as several right wing parties have sought for their reinstatement (they were mostly eliminated in the 1980s and 1990s). Seven EU countries set up temporary border checks in 2016, responding to the mass of immigration across the continent.
Source: European Commission Proposes Independent EU Coast Guard
