There are many different activities taking place in the maritime domain (e.g. transport, tourism, fisheries, aquaculture, oil and gas production) that are related with certain risks (e.g. accidents, pollution, illegal fishing, illegal migration, terrorism, ecological disasters). Member States have more than 300 military and public civil authorities that perform different tasks to monitor, survey and control these activities. These tasks are referred to as Coast Guard Functions and are classified into:
- Maritime safety
- Maritime security
- Maritime search and rescue
- Maritime border control
- Fisheries control
- Maritime customs control
- General law enforcement
- Maritime environmental protection
EFCA has a mandate to cooperate with other Agencies, namely EMSA and Frontex, to support Mamber States national authorities with competences for coastguard activities