On Tuesday 11 March, the Council of the EU extended the mandate of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) military operation in the Mediterranean, EUNAVFOR MED IRINI, for a further two years, until 31 March 2027.
The Council also decided to add a new task to the operation’s mandate. From now on, as a secondary task “and within the limits of its means and capabilities”, it will now carry out monitoring and surveillance activities and gather information on illicit activities other than the trafficking of arms and related material and the illicit export of oil from Libya.
IRINI will also collect useful information for the protection of critical maritime infrastructures and for contingency planning, “thus contributing to an improved assessment of the maritime situation in the area of operations and the joint area of operations”, according to the Council decision.
The reference amount for the joint costs of the operation will be €16.35 million for the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2027.
Read the legal act: https://aeur.eu/f/fws (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)