On Monday 25 January, the Council of the EU approved conclusions launching the Coordinated Maritime Presence (CMP) concept in the Gulf of Guinea pilot case, recognised as an “Maritime Area of Interest” (MAI) (see EUROPE 12344/15).
The European Foreign Affairs Ministers had agreed in August 2019 to set up the concept of a coordinated maritime presence (see EUROPE 12316/1).
This project aims to support the efforts of coastal States and Yaoundé Architecture organisations to address the growing security problems in the Gulf of Guinea, such as armed piracy and kidnapping for ransom. According to the International Maritime Bureau, there have been 195 pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea in 2020 and an attack on Saturday 23 January off the coast of Nigeria on a ship flying the Libyan flag.
“The importance for the Member States to further improve the coordination of actions carried out by their assets deployed in the MAI under national command, on a voluntary basis”, the EU Council conclusions stress. The EU Council will provide political oversight and strategic guidance on the implementation of the CMP pilot case.
Similarly, the EU Council considers it important to strengthen the voluntary sharing of information on maritime security between Member States and the partners of the CMP pilot case if and when deemed appropriate to improve knowledge of the maritime domain in the Maritime Area of Interest.
On the basis of the lessons learnt from the implementation of this pilot case, the EU Council will examine the possibility of applying the concept of a coordinated maritime presence in other maritime areas of EU interest. The EU Council will take stock of the implementation of the pilot case in the Gulf of Guinea by January 2022.
See EU Council conclusions: https://bit.ly/3sVoH39 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)