ANNUAL POLICY REPORT 2012 co-responsible state agencies for the management of the borders, at improving allocation of personnel and assets and at the upgrading of facilities. Under the shadow of the former French President's, N. Sarcozy, pre-elections statement about re-establishing intra-EU border controls in case a Schengen area member state is unable to control illegal immigration at its external border, a peer-topeer visit of experts has taken place in Greece in order to identify fields where technical assistance of other member states implementing Schengen acquis is needed. Furthermore a National Coordination Center for the Surveillance and Control of Borders has been established in order to strengthen external borders' control. In the effort to effectively surveil external borders, FRONTEX's active presence has been of crucial importance. Greece has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with FRONTEX by virtue of which it aims to enhance further the surveillance of the Greek borders and to extend edge-cutting surveillance systems along the Greek-turkish borders. Moreover, FRONTEX joint operations POSEIDON 2012-Land, POSEIDON 2012-Sea, FOCAL POINTS 2012-Land and FOCAL POINTS-Air have also taken place. Return of illegally staying and entering third country nationals is governed by article 14 to 41 of Law 3907/2011 on the 'Establishment of an Asylum Service and a First Reception Service, adjustment of Greek legislation to the provisions of Directive 2008/115/ΕC 'on the common rules and procedures in the member states for the return of illegally staying third country nationals' and other provisions'. During the reference year, an increase of both voluntary and forced returns has been noted. The increased number of voluntary returns can be attributed to the involvement of IOM-Mission in Greece and to the emphasis given by the responsible authorities as regards the provision of information for third country nationals on the voluntary returns programmes. There has also been some progress regarding bilateral readmission agreements, while the signing of the EU-Turkey readmission agreement in June 2012 was very important for Greece. Regarding the situation of asylum-seekers and the provisions of Dublin II Regulation, it is a commonplace that Greece faces greater pressure compared to the rest of the EU member states at its external borders, while the country’s relevant facilities and resources are inadequate to confront the disproportionately high mixed flows of third country nationals arriving at its borders. During 2012, in implementation of L. 3907/2011 (which aims, inter alia, to the reform of the Greek asylum system and its harmonisation with the Common European Asylum System), two Presidential Degrees were adopted for regulating issues of organization and functioning of the First Reception Service and the Asylum Service of the Ministry of Public Order and Citizen’s Protection (P.D. 102/2012 and P.D. 104/2012 respectively). In addition to this, programs for upgrading the facilities and the reception conditions for asylum seekers have been implemented, with the co-funding of the European Refugee Fund. Close cooperation with EASO for the implementation of the Operational Plan for Greece continued in 2012. This cooperation had commenced in February 2011 in response to the Greek request for urgent support, so as to face the 8