ROADMAP

Roadmaps aim to inform citizens and stakeholders about the Commission's work in order to allow them to provide feedback and to participate effectively in future consultation activities. Citizens and stakeholders are in particular invited to provide views on the Commission's understanding of the problem and possible solutions and to make available any relevant information that they may have.

Title of the initiative

EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling (2021-2025)

Lead DG – responsible unit

DG Migration and Home Affairs – Unit C1 Irregular migration and return policy

Likely Type of initiative

Autonomous act - Commission Communication

Indicative Planning

Q1 2021

Additional Information

https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/irregular-migration-return-policy/facilitation-irregular-migration_en 

This Roadmap is provided for information purposes only and its content might change. It does not prejudge the final decision of the Commission on whether this initiative will be pursued or on its final content. All elements of the initiative described by the Roadmap, including its timing, are subject to change.

A. Context, Problem definition and Subsidiarity Check

Context

In 2019, 402 913 persons were detected who were staying illegally within the European Union, compared to 367 266 persons in 2018. During 2019, there were 141 846 detections of illegal border crossings between Border Crossing Points and 212 097 refusals of entry, compared to 149 117 and 190 658 in 2018 respectively. This exemplifies that, even though not as high as during 2015 and 2016, these numbers remain significant.

Human tragedies occur during attempts to reach the European Union irregularly. IOM reports that in 2019, 566 migrants have died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea, while in 2020, 268 migrants have died while attempting to cross towards the European Union (data as per 8 June 2020).While overall the total number of reported detections of illegal border-crossing along the EU’s external borders fell in 2019 to the lowest level since 2013, pressures along the migratory routes towards the EU remain. Irregular migration towards the EU through the Western Balkans continued throughout 2019. In the first months of 2020, increasing migratory flows were reported along the Central Mediterranean, Western African, Western Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean migratory routes. Even though not as high as during 2015 and 2016, these numbers remain significant.

The number of migrants reaching the borders of the EU was reduced in March and April 2020 as a result of border restrictions of EU Member States and third countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear how migratory patterns will evolve when these restrictions on movements will be reduced. However, it is expected that migratory flows towards the EU may increase.

Over 90% of irregular migrants and asylum seekers are being smuggled to the EU according to Europol. Smuggling often involves the organised exploitation of migrants, showing little respect for human life in the pursuit of profit. This criminal activity damages both the humanitarian and the migration management objectives of the EU. Therefore, the prevention and fight against migrant smuggling must be at the centre of a strong European migration and asylum system.

In the upcoming Pact on Migration and Asylum, the Commission will announce that it will present an EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling (2021-2025) in the first quarter of 2021. This new EU Action Plan will build on the current EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling (2015-2020), which was developed in line with the European Agenda on Migration and the European Agenda on Security. 

Migrant smuggling undermines orderly migration management efforts. The prevention and fight against migrant smuggling must be at the centre of a strong and comprehensive European approach to migration management. It must be firmly embedded in migration and asylum policy, interlinked with and flanked by other measures (e.g. by providing legal and safe pathways for migrants to enter the EU, or implementing measures against employers of illegally staying third-country nationals). In addition, following the “whole of route approach”, the fight against migrant smuggling must start in third-countries of origin and transit, and continue within the EU. It should be a part of the comprehensive, tailor-made and mutually beneficial migration management partnerships with the respective third-countries.

Problem the initiative aims to tackle

Europol indicates that, even though migrant smuggling attempts appear to have been reduced since the beginning of 2020, essentially due to stricter COVID-19-related border controls, migrant smugglers are adapting their modi operandi and migrant smuggling activities continue. Stemming irregular migratory influxes is essential to reduce the pressure on national systems for border management, asylum, return and readmission. In the fight against irregular migration, it is important to step up action to counteract migrant smuggling, to address the pull factors for irregular migration, and to increase the effectiveness of returns and readmission.

The current EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling (2015-2020) has comprehensively delineated the area of the EU’s intervention and delivered tangible results, such as strengthening the counter-smuggling capacity of Europol by creating the European Migrant Smuggling Centre and its Information Clearing House, and by increasing information exchange and operational cooperation on migrant smuggling among Member States (including through the EU Policy Cycle for organised and serious international crime). In addition, with a number of third countries along the migratory routes towards the EU, operational cooperation to fight migrant smuggling was supported through EU financial instruments and with the involvement of EU Agencies.

The EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling 2021-2025 will build on the current EU Action Plan and will aim to further strengthen the EU’s response to migrant smuggling for the coming five years. The new EU Action Plan will address a number of key challenges, notably greater intra-EU cooperation and exchange of information, especially operational information that directly assists police and judicial investigations, emerging the need to address new counter-smuggling phenomena such as ‘digital smuggling’, and the need to establish and elaborate more targeted and comprehensive cooperation with the main third-countries of origin and transit.

Basis for EU intervention (legal basis and subsidiarity check)

The EU’s competence to combat irregular migration is set out in Article 79(1) and (2)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). As per Article 80 of the TFEU, the policies of the Union set out in this Chapter and their implementation shall be governed by the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility, including its financial implications, between the Member States.

Insofar as migrant smuggling is a criminal phenomenon, the EU enjoys competence with regard to police cooperation and in judicial cooperation in criminal matters accordance with in Chapters four and five of Title V ‘Area of Freedom, Security and Justice’ of the TFEU.

In 2002, the EU adopted rules to clamp down on migrant smuggling. Directive 2002/90/EC establishes a common definition of the offense of facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and residence, and Framework Decision 2002/946/JHA, reinforces the penal framework to prevent this crime by setting out minimum rules for sanctions. Adopted together, these two instruments complement each other and are known as the Facilitators Package.

Migrant smuggling is a global phenomenon, organised by criminal groups which operate across borders. This has a large impact and implications for the security of the European Union as a whole. It is therefore essential that the strategic direction on tackling migrant smuggling is framed at EU level.

Addressing the challenges of migrant smuggling at EU level will make the EU’s response and that of its Member States more effective and efficient. The new EU Action Plan is expected to add value to the domestic strategies of Member States.

B. What does the initiative aim to achieve and how

The new Pact on Migration and Asylum will address migration and asylum issues in a comprehensive manner.

The EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling 2021-2025 will propose a reinforced framework at EU level and a set of actions in different areas to combat migrant smuggling, therefore strengthening the strong and comprehensive European approach to migration management as presented in the Pact on Migration and Asylum. The new EU Action Plan will be presented as a Commission Communication.

The main objectives of the new EU Action Plan will be to:

-strengthen further the capacities of EU Member States and EU law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute migrant smuggling networks;

-strengthen the cooperation with third countries of origin and transit along migratory routes towards the European Union to combat migrant smuggling.

This will be achieved through:

-strengthening support for the exchange of operational information and cooperation among EU Member States and EU law enforcement agencies (in particular Europol, Eurojust and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency), including through the EU Policy Cycle for organised and serious international crime; strengthening the role of Europol and its European Migrant Smuggling Centre in effectively preventing and combating migrant smuggling and providing tailored support to Member States; advancing on challenges such as financial investigations, asset recovery, and document fraud while also addressing emerging phenomena such as ‘digital smuggling’; 

-strengthening the engagement with main third countries of origin and transit along migratory routes towards the EU. This will be done in close partnership with third countries and firmly embedded within the external policies of the EU. Support needs to be adapted to the context of a third country and may include measures related to legal framework, prevention measures and operational support. Such support will be provided with close involvement of relevant international organisations and making full use of the EU networks of immigration liaison officers in third countries. In addition, the EU will continue to support the existing regional dialogues and processes advancing cooperation on preventing and combating migrant smuggling (e.g. the follow up to the 2018 Niamey Declaration).

C. Better regulation

Consultation of citizens and stakeholders

The actions included in the EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling 2021-2025 will be identified in consultation with stakeholders and the public. These consultations will provide valuable input regarding the challenges that the Action Plan should address, the policy areas on which the EU should focus its work and the type of actions the EU could put in place to support stakeholders in achieving the common objectives.

The main stakeholders to be consulted are the Member State authorities responsible for combatting migrant smuggling, the relevant EU Agencies, European Migration Liaison Officers as well as the immigration liaison officers of Member States, international organisations, non-governmental organisations and think-tanks active in the area of combating migrant smuggling.

The planned consultation activities are:

§Targeted consultations of the main stakeholders identified;

§A public consultation that will run for 12 weeks. The questionnaire will be available in several languages and replies can be made in any of the 24 official EU languages. The consultation will be accessible on the Commission's central public consultations page.

This roadmap is open for comments from stakeholders and members of the public.

Evidence base and data collection

The EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling 2021-2025 will be developed on the basis of statistical data provided by Eurostat as well as by the relevant EU Agencies, notably Europol, Eurojust and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. It will also take into account statistics and analysis provided by international organisations, such as UNODC, Interpol, UNHCR and IOM. This information will be complemented by the input received through the consultation strategy indicated above.

In addition, research and policy analysis from the European Migration Network and to the extent possible, future findings of the on-going performance audit by the European Court of Auditors of Europol’s European Migrant Smuggling Centre will also be taken into account.

The initiative will be a broad policy communication, with no new legislative or budgetary commitments. In accordance with the principles of Better Regulation, since the impacts of this general policy approach cannot be clearly identified ex ante, an impact assessment is not deemed necessary. Nevertheless, the Commission intends to present a Staff Working Document regarding the state of implementation of the EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling 2015-2020. This Staff Working Document will accompany the EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling 2021-2025.