POLISH COMPROMISES
POLISH COMPROMISES Frontex is the only EU agency in Poland. It over its legal status has lasted for over a decade. Frontex demanded that the Polish government headquarters, open a European school in Warsaw for the children of the agency's foreign workers, and provide the Polish employees with diplomatic protection. The Polish government considered these claims to be excessive, but eventually gave in and agreed to most of the demands. It granted enhanced diplomatic protection, but only to Frontex management staff and agreed to build a school. In the interim, children of foreign employers are attending various international schools in Warsaw. Whether Poland will fund part of the construction costs of Frontex' headquarters has yet to be announced. Last year, Warsaw was pressured to sign the agreement when the EU was reinforcing Frontex. Brussels gave the government a short deadline to close the negotiations – otherwise Poland risked losing the agency's headquarters. The issue was settled by the right-wing Law and with Brussels over migration policy. Poland had refused to accommodate any migrants in the EU relocation scheme, even though the former centre-right government agreed to take 7,000 of them. In March 2017, the Polish minister of internal affairs, Mariusz Blaszczak, and the head of Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, signed an agreement ascertaining the seat of the agency's headquarters in Poland. The agreement is now The agreement with the Polish government enough to house its growing staff, from the ground up. The likely location, currently covered in tall grass behind a locked gate, is next to an old abandoned sports stadium. the agency’s headquarters in Poland. 22 — REGIONS & CITIES OCTOBER 2017
Photo: roeaommiio It is also next to the headquarters of the Polish Intelligence Agency and is not in the immediate centre of the city. There are not very many bars and cafes there, especially compared to the current one. On the other hand, it will be much closer to Warsaw's Chopin Airport, which is practical because the agency sees many foreign visitors. Frontex will be responsible for construction and the investment, but wants to start sooner, alongside plans to hire new staff. But there is no architectural plan or budget yet. 66% OF BRUSSELS WAGES Building the new headquarters will be a logistical challenge, but Frontex has to hire staff regardless. For Western Europeans, Warsaw is not a particularly attractive place to work, especially an indicator that adjusts the wages of EU workers to the local cost of living, which, in Poland, is around 66 percent of what EU employees earn in Brussels. This means that a person coming from the West can expect to earn around two-thirds of a Brussels wage for his or her position. According to EU law and the agreement with the Polish government, non-Polish workers will be granted exemptions from the obligation to pay exemption when making large purchases, such as a car. we can be an interesting place to work," said Moncure. "We are becoming one of the central EU agencies." At present, 182 out of 460 people working in Frontex are Polish. 30 are Spanish, 29 Romanian and 28 Italian. There are also between 10 and 20 Greeks and between 10 and 20 Portuguese been employed. REGIONS & CITIES OCTOBER 2017— 23
