The European Union’s Response to Mass Migration Through Mediterranean: A Shift from Humanitarian Foreign Policy Actor Towards a Pragmatist Foreign Policy Actor?

Abstract

Mass migration through the Central Mediterranean route represents a challenge for the security of the European Union, Usually the EU defines itself as a normative foreign policy actor, but is it a valid self-definition in the case of tackling migration through the Central Mediterranean? The EU have been trying to handle migration with several civilian and military missions which pertain to different policy areas where different rules apply to decision making. So far reconciling the member states’ interest proved to be difficult, thus the EU faces internal challenges either regarding its naval operations in the Mediterranean Sea, or regarding the question of Libya. In this chapter we analyse Frontex operations Triton and Themis, and CSDP operations EUBAM Libya, EUNAVFOR MED Sophia and Irini. Our main focus is on examining whether the European Union’s communication and actions regarding these missions are in line, or a decoupling can be observed. We argue that normative aspirations of the Union have been side-lined by security and stability concerns, thus a light shift from normative power towards a pragmatist power can be observed in the case of the Central Mediterranean.