In May, the Foreign Affairs Council agreed to establish an EU CSDP mission, EU NAVFOR MED, the aim of which is to disrupt the business model of people smugglers and traffickers who ruthlessly exploit vulnerable people for profit, and place their lives at risk. This mission was subsequently launched at the June Foreign Affairs Council.
The mission will be conducted in strict accordance with international law and vessels assigned to it will be ready and equipped to perform search and rescue operations as necessary.
The mission will implement its mandate in phases, working initially to detect and monitor migration networks in the Mediterranean. The EU Political and Security Committee, acting under the responsibility of the Council of Ministers, will decide on when to make the transition between the different phases, taking into account any applicable UN Security Council Resolution and consent by the coastal states concerned.
The LÉ Eithne, and the LÉ Niamh which is taking over from it, are not part of this Mission, but has been involved in separate search and rescue activities. Minister Coveney has indicated that consideration of participation by members of the Irish Defence Forces in EUNAVFOR MED will only occur if there is a UN Security Council Resolution and provided that the applicable national statutory requirements are met.
The EUNAVFOR Med Mission is but one strand of the comprehensive approach being pursued by the EU to addressing the migration crisis in all aspects, including by tackling the root causes in source countries through development cooperation programmes and conflict prevention efforts.