On Thursday 6 April 2017, EFCA hosted the third in a series of workshops organised by the European Coast Guard Function Forum (ECGFF), focused on the subject of Fisheries Control.
The first of the aforementioned workshops organised under the Portuguese Chairmanship dealt with Safety at Sea and was hosted by EMSA in Lisbon on 13 December 2016. The second workshop on Border Control and Irregular Migration took place in the FRONTEX premises in Warsaw on 16 February 2017.
The initiative of an ECGFF was first launched in 2009, with the aim to develop cooperation, coordination and multifunctional performance for a joint approach of national administrations and agencies to future challenges in the fields of maritime border security, maritime safety, search and rescue, marine environmental protection and other maritime issues.
The European Commission and other EU bodies support the activities of the ECGFF. The recently amended Founding Regulations of FRONTEX, EMSA and EFCA give the three EU Agencies a key role for establishing European cooperation on Coast Guard Functions, which does not only promote the cooperation between the three Agencies, but also between them and the national authorities carrying out Coast Guard Functions. In this context the three Agencies cooperate with the ECGFF, support its activities and participate in the meetings as observers.
In addition to the series of workshops, a Multipurpose Multiagency Operations Drill (COASTEX 17) is being organised in May 2017 in Portugal.
