On Wednesday 4 December, Member States approved the draft directive on combating migrant smuggling (see EUROPE 13533/17).
The dossier will be sent to the EU’s interior ministers on 12 December.
At the end of 2023 (see EUROPE 13302/11), the European Commission proposed replacing two 2002 texts with a regulation on Europol and a directive aimed at establishing minimum rules to make prosecutions against networks more effective, clarify the definition of the smuggling offence and harmonise penalties.
Although this directive mainly aims to align the penalties applied and make them consistent with other European texts, the most sensitive discussions focused on defining the crime of smuggling, with some delegations expressing concern about the fate of NGOs helping migrants, not wishing to criminalise them.
The compromise approved on 4 December includes a ‘humanitarian clause’, albeit only in a recital, specifying that the directive doesn’t apply to the work of NGOs.
“The issue of the humanitarian clause refers to the idea that certain assistance to third country nationals to enter, transit or stay in the European Union – notably assistance to close family members or support to provide basic human needs – shouldn’t qualify as the criminal offence of migrant smuggling”, states the recital.
Penalties for individuals will range from 3 to 8 years’ imprisonment for particularly serious offences. There is a minimum 10-year prison sentence for smugglers who cause a migrant’s death. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)