The ambassadors of the EU Member States in the Political and Security Committee have proposed, in a document of 27 April obtained by EUROPE, an assistance measure under the European Peace Facility to help the navies of the Gulf of Guinea coastal states.
In January 2021, the EU Council approved the launch of the first pilot case of the coordinated maritime presence (CMP) concept in the Gulf of Guinea.
According to the Political and Security Committee, as EU maritime operations in the Gulf of Guinea become more coordinated under the EU’s PMC concept, the navies of coastal states will be invited to demonstrate their presence alongside the naval forces of EU Member States. For this to happen, knowledge of their own maritime domain, fleet operability and law enforcement capabilities must be improved and then maintained at a satisfactory level, the Committee adds.
“The objective of the envisaged assistance measure would be to enhance Maritime Domain Awareness and Military Maritime Law Enforcement capabilities of the beneficiary coastal states” the document states. The measure would cover four elements: the delivery of an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) system, support for patrol vessels, technical assistance and the threefold combination of liaison, mentoring and advice.
No amount of aid is specified.
On Thursday 28 April, during an online conference on ‘The fight against illicit trafficking in the Central Mediterranean, the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea’, the Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service for the Common Security and Defence Policy and Crisis Response, Charles Fries, recalled that in 2021, 10 ships from five EU Member States participated in the coordinated maritime presence, adding that this CMP had contributed to reducing the number of incidents reported in the area, in particular concerning the kidnapping of crews. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)