On 19 June 2025, the Fundamental Rights Officer of Frontex, Jonas Grimheden, presented the Vision of the Fundamental Rights Office, outlining the identity, values, and core dimensions of its work.

Frontex’s Fundamental Rights Office, in existence since 2012 and currently boasting 70 staff members, is mandated to independently promote, monitor, and provide advice on fundamental rights. In 2021, the Office received more stringent guarantees of independence and began recruiting fundamental rights monitors. Today, the Fundamental Rights Office monitors air, land, and sea borders. It also supervises forced return flights and carries out aerial surveillance, contributes to the training of standing corps officers, and provides advice on all relevant Frontex processes.

Aligning with the goals of the Agency in its Vision, the Fundamental Rights Office sets out to achieve the following objectives:

• Be a reliable and adaptable partner for Frontex itself, for the EU Member States and non-EU countries it works with, and for all other stakeholders, including civil society, NGOs, and international organisations - delivering operational value through transparency, accountability, and professional learning;
• Make intelligence-driven and priority-based decisions - providing monitoring and advice where it matters most and in the most efficient and impactful way;
• Become a pioneer in European law enforcement - acting as a role model for national monitoring and advice in border management and contributing to the integration of international, EU, and national monitoring mechanisms;
• Set standards and drive innovation for the EU border management community - drawing on the standards set by international and EU law, as interpreted by Treaty bodies and international/EU courts. The Office will promote fundamental rights compliance in areas such as returns, the use of force, screening and identification, border surveillance, search and rescue, and border control - taking into account the increasing use of new technologies in border management by setting standards for monitoring and advising in the smartest possible way, with tools including data and other evidence;
• Be a desirable employer - attracting top EU talent and enabling growth.

The tabled "Vision" is the long-term strategy of Frontex's Fundamental Rights Office outlining the path towards the protection, promotion and monitoring of fundamental rights in Frontex's activities.