In December 2015, a proposal for and European Border and Coast Guard was presented to EU member states by the European Commission. This is not the first time European states propose and debate the creation of this instrument to control the external borders of the Schengen territory. Nevertheless, this is the first time that the project is about to be approved. This paper analyses how and why the member states perceptions and positions have changed. I argue that some factors that have made this new proposal palatable to member states. Those factors are grouped in three dimensions: factors related to real-world problems (“refugee crisis” and public opinions in European countries), factors related to legal framework (Lisbon Treaty arrangements) and those variables related to institutional inefficiencies (FRONTEX dynamics and instruments). The evidence for this argument is based on documentary analysis and in-depth interviews with senior civil servants. The analysis of those problems and the possibility to gain credit from the new European Border and Coast Guard make the recent Commission´s proposal palatable to member states and its approval highly probable.
