Budgets and funding
EU budget proposals: more external migration control, less democratic scrutiny /// EU-funded Libyan Coast Guard fires “hundreds of rounds” on humanitarian NGO ship /// Joint Valletta Action Plan follow-up launches dashboard and data browser
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EU budget proposals: more external migration control, less democratic scrutiny
An analysis of the European Commission’s proposal for the next long-term EU budget finds an increased focus on border externalisation with diminished democratic oversight.
The analysis for Statewatch by Trine Odin of Aalborg University in Denmark examines the huge increase in funding for border management and external action - €11.9 billion for Frontex, €12 billion for the Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (with a reduced mandate for integration support) and just over €200 billion for the new Global Europe external instrument.
Odin notes this increase is accompanied by a change in funding structure that allows member states more discretion in how they spend the funds and reduces democratic oversight over the process. A proposed change to external action rules would allow EU development assistance to be withheld from countries who are found to be ‘non-cooperative’ on returns:
The change makes development assistance a direct tool of leverage – conditioning aid on cooperation with EU migration control.
In conclusion, writes Odin, the budget “consolidates a shift away from a values-based external policy towards one increasingly at the service of border enforcement.”
Read the full article here.
EU-funded Libyan Coast Guard fires “hundreds of rounds” on humanitarian NGO ship
On 24 August, the Ocean Viking humanitarian rescue ship operated by SOS Méditerranée and the IFRC came under fire from a Libyan Coast Guard (LCG) patrol vessel while in international waters north of Libya. A crewman aboard described what happened over text:
Hundreds of rounds were fired directly at us; hitting the bridge, RHIBs (rescue speedboats) and hull. Even two days later, we were still finding bullets lodged throughout the ship.
Crew members were pinned to the floor during the assault, with bullets flying over our heads. We were lucky to escape alive and uninjured.
SOS Méditerranée identified the LCG vessel as one of the two Corrubia-class vessels donated by the EU in 2023 as part of the €59 million project “Support for Integrated Border and Migration Management in Libya (SIBMMIL)”.
While this is not the first time EU-funded vessels have been used to menace NGO vessels, the sustained direct firing is a significant escalation. A European Commission spokesperson, when asked about the incident, told Euronews on 26 August it was a “worrying development” and said the Commission would “assess the situation and consider any possible action”.
Joint Valletta Action Plan follow-up launches dashboard and data browser
The "Joint Valletta Action Plan (JVAP) follow-up" is an ongoing project established to implement the action plans emerging from the 2015 Valletta Summit between the EU and the African Union.
The JVAP is one of the main pillars of EU-Africa externalisation, funded by the Joint Africa-EU Strategy and the Pan-African Programme and supported by externalisation specialists the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).
The project, which is currently in a data collection phase, has launched a database and dashboard to monitor projects and initiatives.
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