Frontex takes transparency activists to EU court

"They will be seeking the amount of legal fees corresponding to our case against us plus the new costs associated to this new case," Izuzquiza told EUobserver on Tuesday (1 December).

The pair had initially sought access to the name, flag and type of each vessel deployed by Frontex in the central Mediterranean under its Joint Operation Triton.

They pointed out Frontex had already disclosed such information about some of its operations, often through Twitter.

The agency had for instance once posted an image of a Triton ship on its website, which it then later retracted - and is illustrating this article.

But Frontex refused the pair's requests, citing security issues and was then taken to the EU general court - which sided with the agency in a November 2019 ruling.

Now Frontex has lodged an application with the same court, last month, to initiate proceedings against the pair for not having paid up.

"What they are tying to say is that if you ever dare take us to court again be prepared to be slapped with a five-figure legal bill," said Izuzquiza.

The campaigners had earlier this year launched a petition to get Frontex to retract the legal bill.

Some 87,000 people have signed it, including dozens of NGOs.

It was also through freedom of information requests filed by Izuzquiza and Semsrott to Frontex on EUobserver's behalf that this website was able to break a story about Greek push backs.

For its part, Frontex says the court had ordered Izuzquiza and Semsrott to pay its legal fees.

Frontex argues receiving the money ensures sound financial management and protects the financial interests of the EU.

"As a public institution relying on the funds that ultimately come from European taxpayers, we cannot refuse a court ruling that asks the parties that sued us to pay the legal costs," said a Frontex spokesperson, in an email.

The agency's annual budget for 2020 was €460m.