EU ambassadors in the EU Council have agreed on a draft text to implement “minimum rules” to prevent migrant trafficking across all member states, paving the way for final greenlights at the ministerial level next week, and at the summit of EU leaders later this month.
“Migrant smuggling has developed significantly since the migration crisis began in 2015,” the Council’s explainer on the file says. It goes on:
Over 90% of illegal migrants pay smugglers to try to reach Europe, according to Europol and Interpol. This is a highly lucrative business for criminal networks, and there is a low risk of getting caught. It is estimated that migrant smuggling generates an annual turnover of between €4.7 billion and €6 billion worldwide.
That is why the European Commission, in line with member states’ requests, decided to replace its previous directive on human smuggling, adopted in 2002, which is no longer deemed sufficient to address the changing ‘market.’
The new framework is meant to provide member states with a harmonized and more effective approach to combat migrant smuggling networks. It is accompanied by a separate proposal to enhance police cooperation as well as the powers of Europol in the area, notably by establishing the European Centre Against Migrant Smuggling within the agency.
The package is built on five pillars, the first of which introduces a clearer definition of offenses that fall under the human smuggling category.
For instance, “public instigation” to come to the EU without authorization will also become a crime. This will include adverts for migrant smuggling through digital tools and social media—something that certain “search and rescue” NGOs have been caught participating in before, although the proposal explicitly mentions that the “humanitarian assistance of NGOs … must not be criminalized.”
The second and third pillars harmonize penalties—human smuggling must carry a minimum of between three and 15 years in prison, depending on the seriousness of the crime, with the latter coming into play in case of a migrant’s death—and improves the jurisdictional reach of member states to include offenses committed onboard ships or aircraft registered on their territory.
The fourth pillar will mandate member states to “adequately” equip their national law enforcement agencies to ensure effective prevention, investigation, and prosecution related to migrant smuggling; while the fifth requires them to collect and share statistical data with each other to improve Europe’s collective response.
The EU’s justice and home affairs ministers will meet next Thursday, December 12th to greenlight the final version of the legislation.
