Taking EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson to Court to Have Fabrice Leggeri Fired
Court of Justice of the European Union, March 2022
front-LEX is taking EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson to Court for blocking the process to fire Frontex’s Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri. The EU’s anti-fraud agency (OLAF) has found Leggeri and other Frontex senior officials guilty of serious and systematic crimes against asylees and determined he is a danger to the lives and safety of thousands of human beings.
Under EU law only the EU Commissioner Johansson can institute proceedings to dismiss Leggeri. By failing to table a proposal to the Frontex’s Management Board over the matter, new crimes are committed daily and countless new persons are being victimized.
Keeping an official whom EU own’s law enforcement agency determined is a danger to the lives and safety of thousands human beings as the head of the most powerful, the best financed and the most violent EU law enforcement agency renders the Commissioner herself complicit in these crimes.
Contrary to her statements in the European Parliament - claiming she has neither the power nor the responsibility to do so - the truth is that under EU Law, Ms. Ylva Johansson is the ONLY person able to start a motion to dismiss Leggeri.
Johansson is legally obliged to do so, by way of tabling a proposal to the Frontex Management Board to dismiss Leggeri. But she refrains from doing so for political reasons. Leggeri must resign, or be fired! Johansson has 60 days to fire Leggeri, have him resign, or else: see you in Luxembourg.
UPDATE
On 29 April 2022, Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri resigned!
Leggeri stepped down in order to avoid accountability for his crimes. This is untenable and a slap in the face of thousands of pushback victims. Furthermore, many senior officials guilty of the crimes for which Leggeri stepped down continue to work at Frontex.
What is worse, the policies for which Leggeri had to resign are ongoing uninterruptedly, the crimes for which he was about to be held to account for are still being perpetrated, and every day countless asylees are being victimized.
We continue working in order to make sure Fabrice Joël Roger Leggeri will be tried before an international tribunal for the crimes he is implicated with, from Greece to Libya. We continue working to terminate these policies and provide victims with legal remedies.
Documents
Pre-Action under Article 265 TFEU: Preliminary Action – Full text
Response of the Commission: on file with front-LEX
Announcement of the Frontex Board on the ‘resignation’ of Leggeri
Resignation letter of Leggeri
Advocacy
Adv. Iftach Cohen testifying at the EU Parliament
EUI Roundtable in the Aftermath of the Resignation of the Executive Director:
01/04/2022 EU Observer EU lawmakers refuse to sign off Frontex budget
25/03/2022 ECRE Complaint Against Frontex Lodged Before ECJ as Details of OLAF Report are Revealed
Media
04/05/2022 L´Orient Le Jour Migration en Méditerranée : Frontex ou la culture de l’impunité
03/05/2022 pressenza Direttore esecutivo Frontex: dimissioni in cambio di silenzio ?
24/03/2022 EU Observer EU commissioner risks court action over Frontex