Lampedusa follow up: concrete actions to prevent loss of life in the Mediterranean and better address migratory and asylum flows
The tragedy in Lampedusa prompted an unprecedented call for action by EU leaders and citizens. On 4 December, the Commission proposed ways to increase solidarity and mutual support in order to prevent migrants' death in the Mediterranean.
Actions proposed are the result of the work carried out by the Commission chaired Task-Force for the Mediterranean, with the aim to bolster EU's policies and tools in the short to medium term.
The Task-Force identified concrete actions in five main areas:
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Border surveillance to help saving lives
Frontex proposed to strengthen aerial and maritime surveillance and rescue capacity, within the existing European Patrols Network. Also, EUROSUR will contribute, by strenghtening information exchange and cooperation between and within Member States' authorities and Frontex. Further, shipmaster and merchant vessels should be reassured that helping migrants in distress will not lead to sanctions.
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Assistance and solidarity
Member States dealing with high migratory pressure should receive financial support. The Commission is setting aside funding up to 50 million EUR, of which 30 million EUR goes to Italy. New tools have been developed as well, such as the supported processing of asylum applications.
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Fight against trafficking, smuggling and organised crime
- Europol would be given a stronger role and resources to coordinate other EU agencies:
- review of t he existing EU Law on human smuggling;
- supporting capacity-building programmes
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Regional protection, resettlement and legal ways to access Europe
In order to stimulate resettling, future EU funding will be available to support additional efforts and commitments in this field. Further, the Commission is ready to explore possibilities for protected entries in the EU, which could allow non-EU nationals to access to asylum procedure from outside the EU, without embarking to dangerous journeys; Regional Protection Programmes should be reinforced and expanded and new legal channels to access Europe should be sought.
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Actions in cooperation with third countries
Mobility Partnership Agreements as instruments to identify more channels for regular migration should be increasingly used. Therefore, new dialogues on migration, mobility and security should be launched with additional Southern Mediterranean countries.
More information
- The complete communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, on the work of the Task-Force can be found here .
- MEMO/13/862: EU actions in the field of migration and asylum