A/HRC/23/46 29. Furthermore, important human rights advances within the context of European Union external border management must not be overlooked. For example, the European Union has taken considerable steps to ensure that Frontex improves its compliance with international human rights law. Following the CJEU judgement annulling Council Decision 2010/252/EU10, the European Union will establish new rules and guidelines for Frontex Sea Operations, and the Special Rapporteur has been assured that the Commission’s proposal will fully incorporate respect for fundamental rights and non-refoulement during Frontex operations, and clear disembarkation rules in line with international refugee law and international human rights law. In 2011, the Frontex Regulation was also revised, and the institution was mandated to appoint a Fundamental Rights Officer to monitor its operations’ impact on migrants’ and refugees’ fundamental rights, and to establish a Consultative Forum on Fundamental Rights with an advisory role in providing policy advice. 30. In the same vein, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has recently completed some important work with regards to the rights of migrants within the European Union.11 The Special Rapporteur further notes that the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights is now an important source of European Union law, and respect for the Charter, by virtue of its status as a binding treaty, must be a key component of European Union policies on migration. Major shortcomings regarding the effective protection of migrants’ rights 2. (a) The exclusion of irregular migrants from the migration and human rights nexus 31. Despite the advances set out above, the Special Rapporteur regrets that within the European Union policy context, irregular migration remains largely viewed as a security concern that must be stopped. This is fundamentally at odds with a human rights approach, concerning the conceptualization of migrants as individuals and equal holders of human rights. 32. With regard to GAMM, the Special Rapporteur regrets the linking of irregular migration with human trafficking, which may falsely give the impression that irregular migration is a criminal offence, in line with trafficking. While the smuggling of migrants may constitute a criminal offence, irregular migration does not, and should thus not be linked to security issues and crime. 33. Similarly, the “EU Action on migratory pressure - A strategic response” action paper, approved by the Justice and Home Affairs Council in April 2012, focuses on easing “migratory pressures”, rather than examining the causes of irregular migration. The Special Rapporteur notes however, that scant attention is given in these documents to the push factors, which include under-development and weak rule of law in the countries of origin and transit, or the pull factors. 34. While welcoming the Commission’s commitment to use the term “irregular” migrants, the Special Rapporteur notes that numerous European Union migration policy documents, and especially Council conclusions and legislative acts, also continue to use the expressions “illegal migration” and “illegal migrants”. Even the Stockholm programme emphasizes that the European Union “must continue to facilitate legal access to the territory of its Member States while in parallel taking measures to counteract illegal immigration and cross-border crime and maintaining a high level of security.” 10 11 Court of Justice of the European Union, Case C-355/10, 5 September 2012. FRA, Fundamental rights of migrants in an irregular situation in the European Union, November 2011. FRA, Fundamental rights at Europe’s southern sea borders, 2013. 9