On Monday 30 March, the Council of the EU adopted decisions changing the mandate of two of the EU’s naval operations: EUNAVFOR ASPIDES for naval missions in the Red Sea and EUNAVFOR ATALANTA for missions in the Western Indian Ocean and Red Sea.
ASPIDES. In addition to its current missions, EUNAVFOR ASPIDES will now: - collect and share information on suspicious activities related to critical submarine infrastructure; - contribute to capacity building by training Djibouti’s maritime forces; - strengthen links with other EU initiatives, including the EU’s critical maritime routes project (CRIMARIO).
The operation has a budget of €15 million to cover its costs from 1 March to 28 February 2027, and consists of three ships.
ATALANTA. The updated mandate for EUNAVFOR ATALANTA includes: - a new task to collect and share information on suspicious activities related to critical submarine infrastructure; - strengthened links with other EU initiatives, such as the CRIMARIO project.
The operation will no longer monitor the illicit charcoal trade, but will maintain its secondary tasks on monitoring arms and narcotics trafficking and illegal fishing.
The operation is equipped with one to three combat ships and an aerial reconnaissance aircraft.
The decisions on the development of the mandates of the two operations “further strengthen the EU’s maritime commitment and underline the need for a sustained contribution in terms of assets, including ships”, emphasised the EU Council in a press release.
On 19 March, the European Council explicitly called for the assets of the two maritime safety operations to be strengthened. On the other hand, the Member States are reluctant to the idea of extending the theatre of these operations to the Strait of Hormuz, which is currently blocked by the war in the Middle East (see EUROPE 13829/1). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)