Brussels, 18/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 18 May, the foreign affairs and defence ministers decided to establish an EU military naval operation - EUNAVFOR Med - to put the human traffickers and smugglers in the Mediterranean out of business.
The ministers therefore adopted the crisis management plan and the decision to establish the operation. This decision will allow the operational planning for the naval operation to officially start. The ministers also agreed that the operational headquarters will be in Rome and that the Italian Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino will take command of EUNAVFOR Med. The joint cost of the operation has been put at €11.82 million for the start-up phase, to last two months, plus an additional mandate of twelve months.
High Representative Federica Mogherini expressed her hopes that the decision to launch the operation would be enshrined at the General Affairs Council of 22 June.
The operation will consist of three phases, Mogherini explained. The first would be “research and gathering information and intelligence” about the routes taken by the vessels, their capacity and the individuals involved, and organising patrols in international waters. The second phase will consist of “stopping and checking vessels”, Mogherini added. According to a European source, activities will include boarding, searching, seizing and diverting vessels at sea, if they are found without a flag or if the vessel's flag state agrees. Phase two will also include the possibility of action in Libyan territorial waters, which will require the agreement of the Libyans or a United Nations resolution. The third phase will be to neutralise the vessels, to make them unusable, Mogherini explained.
The high representative went on to explain that although the heads of state and government had discussed vessel destruction on 23 April, the main point was not so much the destruction of the boats themselves, but that of the economic models of the smuggler organisations, to ensure that the boats can no longer be used. The French minister for European affairs, Harlem Désir, said that the boats could be neutralised simply by destroying their engines. Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, said that the aim was to “put the boats out of service, not to bombard them”.
Upon his arrival at the Council, Asselborn explained that the ministers had to focus on phase one. “I am confident that the first phase can start immediately”, his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, stated. The planning of the operation and the initial phase of surveillance and assessing the smugglers' and traffickers' networks will be put in place as soon as possible, the Council stresses in its own press release. However, phase one will not be able to start until the operation is launched.
The second and third phases of the operation will be “based on international law and in partnership with the Libyan authorities”, the Council press release states. The transition from one phase to the next will depend on the conditions imposed by United Nations resolution and will require a Council decision, according to the same European source.
“It is clear that we are looking for full international legitimacy, which we can achieve through a United Nations Security Council resolution”, Mogherini explained, adding that there was no longer any political resistance to the “hypothesis of a resolution, even under Chapter 7”. Without this resolution, none of the faces of the operation can be launched.
Mogherini also went on to state that the EU would be seeking a partnership with the Libyan authorities. “With all the Libyan authorities concerned”, she added, explaining that this could facilitate a Security Council resolution. The EU would seek not only the approval of the recognised government of Tobrouk, which would be enough, but also that of the other components, such as the Tripoli 'government', the government of Misrata or even the municipalities. “We need to share the responsibility and work together”, she explained.
The EU hopes that the resolution will be adopted ahead of the forthcoming Foreign Affairs Council.
“We have to be able to act as closely as possible to the coast, which is why we are calling for a United Nations mandate so that we can act in an international framework which allows us to take action, including in the territorial waters”, Désir stressed. “First and foremost, we have to rescue the people on board and, if necessary, take them back to the port of departure”, he added. The Irish and Danish ministers said that the actions should be carried out before the migrants had boarded. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)