The European Union and several African countries launched, on Monday 12 December in Brussels, two Team Europe Initiatives (TEI) focusing on the Atlantic, Western Mediterranean and Central Mediterranean migratory routes “to address common migration challenges”, such as the increase in irregular flows and smuggling networks, the Commission announced in a statement.
These initiatives, inaugurated at a ceremony, bring together African and European countries of origin, transit and destination. “They will create new opportunities for coordination with partner countries, international partners and relevant UN agencies”.
These initiatives include intensifying work on “the prevention of irregular migration, countering smuggling and trafficking in human beings. The EU will develop and implement a new regional programme to combat migrant smuggling and human trafficking in North Africa”, the Commission adds.
They will also address legal migration, including readmission, labour mobility and return and readmission, with Frontex “supporting return operations as well as actions to support reintegration through development programmes”.
The Central Mediterranean TEI brings together the Commission, Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland with Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Niger, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea and Nigeria.
The TEI of the Atlantic/Western Mediterranean route brings together Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland with Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, Senegal, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.
The first meetings will take place on the margins of the Ministerial Conference of the Rabat Process on 14 December in Cadiz.
Link to the initiatives: https://aeur.eu/f/4m3 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)