Artur Gruszczak

ZBN Analysis no. 11 (30) / 2018

19 May 2018

© 2018 Uniwersytet Jagielloński & Artur Gruszczak

On 14 May 2018 the Council of the European Union adopted a decision on establishing a crime information cell within the EUNAVFOR MED military operation (code-named Sophia) launched in 2015 in the central part of the Mediterranean Sea. This decision adds a new, intelligence-driven, element into the EU’s maritime operations aiming at enhancing criminal prevention and investigation with regard to illegal activities developed in that area of the Mediterranean Sea, particularly human smuggling and trafficking in illicit goods. It proves a constant approximation between the military dimension of the EU’s security policy and the civilian aspects of internal security and border protection. It shows clearly that the EU’s activities in the central Mediterranean have departed from search-and-rescue missions towards law-enforcement operations based on intelligence-led policing.

Background

The Council decision on a crime information cell (CIC) addresses the consequences of the migration crisis for the EU’s security in terms of criminal activities and risks of crime proliferation along the EU’s “southern flank” (Mediterranean Sea). From the strategic-political perspective, it is located on the crossing of the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) cooperation (including law enforcement, border protection and criminal justice), Common Security and Defense Policy (external missions and operations) as well as NATO’s component of CSDP (non-Article 5 military operations). In operational terms, it is connected with the EUNAVFOR MED military operation “Sophia” which aims to “undertake systematic efforts to identify, capture and dispose of vessels and enabling assets used or suspected of being used by migrant smugglers or traffickers, in order to contribute to wider EU efforts to disrupt the business model of human smuggling and trafficking networks in the Southern Central Mediterranean”.[1]

During the gradual rollout of operational activities of EUNAVFOR MED, especially in their first phase[2], a lot of information and data were collected, stored and sent to relevant EU agencies and bodies for processing and analysis. A good part of them fell into the remit and mandate of JHA agencies. With the stronger emphasis put on the improvement of connections between CSDP operations and JHA cooperation, the Council put forward a plan to set up a mechanism dedicated to reinforcement of ongoing cooperation between CSDP operations and JHA agencies and bodies, especially in the area of information sharing. In September 2017 two Council bodies: the Standing Committee on Internal Security (COSI), a JHA coordinating body, and the Political and Security Committee, dealing with the common foreign and security policy, agreed on developing a concept for a dedicated crime information cell embedded in EUNAVFOR MED Operation “Sophia”. A CSDP-JHA workshop “Next steps - Pilot Project Operation Sophia” held in November 2017 brought about detailed proposals and recommendations which served as basis for a joint concept for the pilot project presented by the Commission and EEAS in early March 2018, submitted next to the Council. The latter approved the participation of  JHA agencies in the pilot project for a crime information cell and recommended further discussion „in the relevant Council preparatory bodies, with a view to launching the project as soon as possible.”[3]

Organisation

According to an official press release from the Council,  the crime information cell (CIC) “will be composed of up to 10 staff members from relevant law enforcement authorities of EU member states and from the EU agencies FRONTEX and EUROPOL in order to improve information sharing between them. The cell will be tasked to facilitate the receipt, collection and transmission of  information on human smuggling and trafficking, the implementation of the UN arms embargo on Libya, illegal trafficking, as well as crimes relevant to the security of the operation itself.”[4] Although no detailed information has been provided so far, one can envisage the organization and operation of CIC on the basis of a note on cooperation between CSDP missions and operations and EU agencies active in the area of freedom, security and justice adopted by the Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security (COSI) and the Political and Security Committee (PSC) in November 2017. [5] It provided for a 10-person cell hosting law enforcement experts, notably with military status, seconded by the member states or sent by relevant EU JHA (Justice and Home Affairs) agencies, specifically Europol (European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation) and Frontex (European Border and Coast Guard Agency). They should be operating in a safe and secured environment for information gathering and transmission, the latter utilizing Europol-based SIENA application (Secure Information Exchange Network Application) and Frontex-operated JORA (Joint Operations Reporting Application). The 2017 proposal assumed that CIC would be supported additionally by Frontex personnel who already had garnered considerable experience in intelligence-led activities during joint operations carried out by this agency in the central part of the Mediterranean Sea since 2015, namely JO “Triton” (replaced in February 2018 by JO “Themis”). Frontex’s debriefers could be deployed on ships participating in Operation “Sophia” and acquire information (including personal data) of suspicious activities focusing on facilitation of illegal migration, migrant smuggling, cross-border crime, arms smuggling and terrorism. Consequently, an information collection and intelligence sharing scheme operated by CIC, with a prominent role of Frontex, would not only increase the effectiveness of EUNAVFOR MED activities and security of its assets, but also greatly facilitate the building of a comprehensive situational picture of illicit activities which would contribute to the EU’s strategic security awareness in the central area of the Mediterranean region and better-crafted operations and missions.

Conclusions: towards a fusion centre

The Council’s decision opens up an opportunity to establish a specific fusion cell which is formally located within the EUNAVFOR MED organizational structure and develop functional linkages with relevant agencies and bodies involved in criminal analysis and intelligence-led policing. CIC should ensure that any information gathered in the framework of Operation “Sophia”, relevant for crime prevention, investigation and prosecution as well as for security of the EU’s external borders is collected and stored and made available to the relevant authorities of Member States and to JHA agencies. In addition, EEAS bodies, such as EU Intelligence and Situation Centre (INTCEN) and Intelligence Directorate of the EU Military Staff (INTDIR), could be involved in exchanging strategic analyses. The cell would operate on the basis of reciprocity which means that EUNAVFOR MED would receive from JHA agencies the criminal information relevant for the fulfilment of its mandate. CIC will also share personal data of suspicious activities. One can validate the assumptions made in November 2017 that "EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia could benefit from further cross checking of information by JHA agencies of all relevant databases which offers an opportunity to identify possible links to organised crime and terrorism.” [6] Although the concept of CIC is envisaged to “solely focus on criminal information, and not on intelligence per se, noting Member State responsibility in this field”[7] it does not preclude the use of criminal intelligence related to information about crime or criminal activities. In addition, CICs could be also used by EU civilian missions to help collect and share information acquired and gathered “in the field”.[8]

There are many risks and uncertainties ahead of the full implementation of the Council decision on CIC. A tiny 10-person cell may be insufficient for an effective collection and transmission of information. Cross checking by JHA agencies, and possibly relevant EEAS units, may be partial and limited, due to formal regulations and technical requirements. Operational cooperation between CSDP bodies and JHA agencies is still in its early stage and suffers from underdevelopment of its structural, organisational and decisional forms. Checks against information and intelligence originating in the member states may be even more problematic if security clearance is needed or national criminal data bases are to be consulted. The principle of respect of the member states’ competence in national security domain may restrict and hamper cross-border investigation and prosecution in the cases of terrorist offences or organized crime identified by CIC.[9] Nevertheless, CIC can be an interesting and valuable undertaking within the EU’s security domain which will test joint information collection capacity and criminal intelligence capabilities with regard to the main threats and security challenges, such as terrorism, arms trafficking and human smuggling.

Photo credit: European External Action Service.

[1] About EUNAVFOR MED Operation SOPHIA – Mandate, https://eeas.europa.eu/csdp-missions-operations/eunavfor-med-operation-sophia/36/about-eunavfor-med-operation-sophia_en (accessed on March 12, 2018).

[2] „[...] in a first phase, support the detection and monitoring of migration networks through information gathering and patrolling on the high seas in accordance with international law”, art. 2.2.a, Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/778 of 18 May 2015 on a European Union military operation in the Southern Central Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR MED), Official Journal of the European Union, no. L 122, May 19, 2015.

[3] Outcome of the Council Meeting. 3603rd Council meeting Justice and Home Affairs, Brussels, 8 and 9 March 2018, Council document no. 6952/18 (provisional version), Brussels, March 9, 2018, http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/33129/st06952-en18.pdf (accessed on  March 12, 2018).

[4] EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia: operation to contribute to better information sharing on crime in the Mediterranean, Council Press Release 246/18, 14 May 2018, http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2018/05/14/eunavfor-med-operation-sophia-operation-to-contribute-to-better-information-sharing-on-crime-in-the-mediterranean/pdf (accessed on 15 May 2018).

[5] Note from Presidency / EEAS Services / COMMISSION Services / GSC to Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security (COSI) Political and Security Committee (PSC). Subject:

Cooperation between CSDP missions/operations and JHA agencies, Council document 14265/17, Brussels, 20 November 2017, http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-14265-2017-INIT/en/pdf (accessed on 17 May 2018).

[6] Ibidem.

[7] Ibidem, p. 5.

[8] Cover Note from European External Action Service (EEAS) to Political and Security Committee (PSC). Subject: Priorities for civilian crisis management, Council document no. 13258/17, Brussels, October 16, 2017, p. 7.

[9] See interesting remarks of the UK government: Explanatory Memorandum on the European Union’s

Common Foreign and Security Policy, http://europeanmemoranda.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/files/2018/04/Signed_EM_(76).pdf (accessed on 17 May 2018).