Migrants crossing the Mediterranean sea heading from the Turkish coast, January 2016. Wikicommons/Mstyslav Chernov/Unfram. Some rights reserved.The European Coast Guard Functions Forum (ECGFF) is a voluntary, independent and non-political forum whose membership includes the main agencies of 25 European Union Member States and associated Schengen countries performing Coast Guard functions, plus the European Commission and its institutions and agencies with related competencies in this area (Frontex, EMSA, EFCA, and EASO).
The aim of the Forum is to study and to contribute to the understanding and the development of maritime issues related to Coast Guard functions, as well as to the progress of related activities, which are quite broad in scope, including:
- - maritime safety, including vessel traffic management;
- - maritime, ship and port security;
- - maritime customs activities;
- - prevention and suppression of trafficking and smuggling and connected maritime law enforcement;
- - maritime border control;
- - maritime monitoring and surveillance;
- - maritime environmental protection and response;
- - maritime search and rescue;
- - ship casualty and maritime assistance service;
- - maritime accident and disaster response;
- - fisheries inspection and control; and
- - activities related to the above Coast Guard Functions.
The fact that more than 300 agencies in Europe are dealing with these subjects gives an idea of the diversity and complexity of issues that potentially fall within the scope of the ECGFF.
