Proposals passed by the European Parliament’s home affairs committee call for member states to staff an EU Border Guard System.

If MEPs get their way, the new agency will get a multi-million pound budget and be able to deploy officers without consulting governments who supply them.

Critics say plans to reorganise the existing Frontex border agency are a first step towards creating a continental immigration system.

The scheme is contained in a review of the Warsaw-based EU border agency, conducted by Maltese MEP Dr Simon Busuttil.

It says the various operations carried out by Frontex should be merged into one EU Border Guard system and recommends an increase in its already bloated budget so it can buy its own planes, boats and other equipment. The review also says all EU member states – including Britain – should be ordered to contribute officers to a pool of border guards.

It also insists members sign a “solidarity clause”, which would force Britain to take a share of all refugees arriving in the EU, whichever country they land in.

While Britain is not signed up to Frontex, the proposals say all member states should be compelled to take part in the new system.

The European Commission is still trying to force Britain to join Frontex. The report calls for analysis of “the need for the further development of the EU Border Guard system and for the agency to employ independent guards acting under its instructions”.

Frontex does not have its own officers or equipment and relies on borrowing them from member states when it embarks on missions such as patrolling the Mediterranean or the Greece-Turkey border. Read More