The overview reflects trends on staffing, qualifications of staff and the monitoring of return operations in its various phases. Since 2017, there is a decreasing tendency to monitor national return operations, whereas Frontex coordinated operations are increasingly monitored.
The sustainability and stability of continuous monitoring remains a challenge in some Member States, where the monitoring is not anchored in an institution but covered via short term contracts with external providers. An increase of staffing and an increased qualification of monitors is another trend.