Blog AnalysisBorders Immigration Asylum

The fight against immigration becomes a European subject

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(Credit: Italian Navy)

(BRUSSELS2) A meeting of Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs, Monday 18, at the Justus Lipsius (Council); the meeting of the Mediterranean task force this Wednesday 20 at the Berlaymont (European Commission) and a Franco-Italian summit in Rome, etc. the issue of growing immigration in the Mediterranean is now taking up more and more space on the political agendas of European leaders: from Bulgaria to Spain, via Slovenia, Greece, France and of course Malta , Cyprus and Italy which are in the "front row". It is also beginning to worry countries, in central or northern Europe, which are also seeing immigrants arrive towards them, particularly from Syria.

Italian demand: an indicator

The continuous arrival of migrants in the Mediterranean, the Syrian conflict which does not weaken, Libya which is destabilizing and Egypt which is looking for itself... are, in fact, so many vectors which, day after day, raise the subject. as the priority of priorities. We thus find ourselves in a situation quite similar to that of the increase in piracy in the summer of 2008, where take after take, the pirates forced Europeans, sometimes unenthusiastic, to adopt a more common and bolder position. .. And the Italian request to study a CSDP operation to fight against illegal immigration, even if it was not accepted, inevitably served as a revealer and propelled the subject to the level of European institutions.

The Franco-Italian strategy

During a Franco-Italian Summit essentially focused on reviving growth in Europe, Enrico Letta and François Hollande thus insisted on "the need for a European strategy for the southern borders of the Union, which foresees a border control phase”. The two presidents have clearly positioned themselves in favor d'“strengthening the operational actions of the Frontex Agency and increasing the resources of the European Asylum Support Office”. If they have so pledged “to strengthen European initiatives”, in the field of the fight against crime, they nevertheless remained deliberately vague on "the tools most capable of effectively combating trafficking". They thus echo the informal discussions, at the Council of Foreign Ministers, held this Monday in Brussels.

Mediterranean: All options open

During the meeting, the Ministers of the "28" (Foreign Affairs and Defence) indeed spoke at length about immigration in the Mediterranean. Certainly the military option, advocated by the Italians, does not seem to excite a number of Member States. What Emma Bonino, the Minister of Italian Affairs, recognized in front of the press. “A military operation similar to that of the Atalanta mission against pirates in the Horn of Africa provokes little consensus. (...) More likely, this will involve strengthening Frontex operations. » However, a PSDC operation is not totally ruled out. “The Italian minister has proposed ideas, other ministers have proposed theirs, we have to bring it all together (…) in an integrated approach” specified, for his part, la High Representative of the EU. “We are going to present the different possibilities in a document”. What a European diplomat summed up with a simple formula: “All options remain open”.

At sea or on land

The range of possibilities is indeed wide. « The fight against illegal immigration through CSDP should be seen in a broader context. said Maciej Popowski, Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS)  « If we want to fight effectively against trafficking, it will be necessary to consider an engagement in the countries of origin and transit. “A statement that we approve and that we complete on the French side. " The hypothesis of a CSDP mission at sea is not only intended to respond to Emma Bonino's request but also to emphasize that CSDP instruments can be effective, as a preventive measure, in the countries of origin of migration "to strengthen the capacities of countries to ensure the control of their borders, " like for example with EUBAM Libya”.

We had to row...

At the end of Monday's meeting, the Italian ministers were in any case pleased to have sparked the debate on the means of combating illegal immigration at the table of 28. For Emma Bonino, Italian Foreign Minister: " The discussions in the Council were a unifying moment and showed a strong political will on the part of the 28 Member States to solve the problem of security at the southern borders. ". However, it was not self-evident. " Keeping the issue on the Council's agenda was not easy “explained to B2 a high-ranking French source” Several people had to row — Spain, Italy, France… — for that. (...) Indeed, without waiting for June 2014, we want to have measures from December. he asserted. But French and Italians were not isolated.

A concern for all of southern Europe

Also concerned by migratory pressure, Greece, through the voice of Evangelos Venizelos, its Deputy Prime Minister and Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs, has stated that it wants to make this issue a major priority for the Greek Presidency of the EU for the next semester. : “Migration flows are a humanitarian problem. But they are also a problem for the security of the whole of Europe, and especially for us, the countries of southern Europe. he added. " We must think of radical and courageous solutions to monitor the Mediterranean coasts through European countries in order to achieve substantial results. » As for the Bulgarian minister, Kristian Vigenin, il “hopes that the European Commission and the European External Action Service will intensify the dialogue with third countries in the fight against illegal immigration, human trafficking and the conclusion of readmission agreements”.

And now ? The 'Mediterranean Task Force' which met this Wednesday at the headquarters of the European Commission must make its conclusions operational for the next Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council on 5 and 6 December. The question should come up again during the various meetings of the working groups before

Comment: Awareness at European level is still slow. Because there are always countries that are primarily concerned and others that are less so. But the pressure of events often works in favor of mobilization. For those who have been following this blog for years, they may recall the conditions for the creation of the EU Anti-Piracy Operation (EUNavfor) Atalanta. At the time it was mainly the Spaniards and French who paved the way, with the WFP (the World Food Program in support). Unable to decide quickly, the Member States had then set up a naval coordination cell, EU NAVCO in September. (NB: The mandate of EU Navco Somalia, anti-piracy coordination. Details). Then the successive captures of the Faina, the Ukrainian ship carrying weapons, or the Aramco super tanker the Sirius Star, and the increase in the number of sailors held hostage because of the risk of growing insecurity increased the pressure and forced the all of the Member States to move up a gear. Today, the succession of migratory dramas like Lampedusa enter into the same dynamic of pressure...

(Loreline Merelle & Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

More details about the Club: CSDP operation in the Mediterranean: three options under consideration

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Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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