Brussels, 17/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 20 June, the foreign affairs ministers of the EU member states are expected formally to approve without debate the prolongation by a year of the EU's naval operation in the Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR Med Sophia) and the extension of its mandate to two additional tasks: support to the Libyan coastguard and implementation of the United Nations arms embargo on Libya (see EUROPE 11556 and 11573).
The ministers could approve Sophia's new operational plan at the same time, although this is not certain and could be done at a later stage. A force generation conference could also take place in the coming days, so as to bring together the capacity needed to ensure these two new tasks. Some member states, including Germany and Sweden, still have to obtain the agreement of their parliaments in order to participate in this.
The effective launch of the arms embargo control could take place at the end of July. The initial training activities of the Libyan coastguard could begin at the end of the summer. The modalities for the training part still need to be agreed with the Libyans. This has not yet be done as the candidates for training need to be selected carefully.
Questions nevertheless still remain. According to a diplomatic source, the area for the operation's action could be extended and cover all of the Libyan coast. Greece has apparently expressed concern, however, about the possibility of the people who are rescued by the operation's vessels being taken back to Greek territory. The Greek authorities would reportedly prefer these people to be taken to Italy. The operation's area for action could thus be extended only for the embargo control in order to respond to these Greek concerns. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)