Category: Security policy

Current and future engagement of the European Union The Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union adopted a "Gulf of Guinea Strategy" in 2014 and an action plan (time horizon: 2015-2020) to implement this strategy in March 2015. Various EU Council working groups were involved in the development of the strategy and action plan under the leadership of the European External Action Service (EEAS), which comprises 67 individual actions. There was close coordination with international partners, in particular with the United Nations, three regional African organisations and a total of 19 African coastal states. Although the EU does not (yet) play a central role in the Gulf of Guinea, it wants and needs to become more active there with its strategy and action plan, using its rich array of civilian and military instruments. There was a clear need for action to develop a strategy and action plan for the Gulf of Guinea: piracy, armed robbery, human trafficking and smuggling (people, drugs, weapons), illegal fishing, illegal diversion (oil bunkering) and theft of oil, a highly "toxic mix" of criminal activities. Some facts: Piracy activity in the Gulf of Guinea accounts for between 15-19 % of attacks worldwide. In 2014, 24 incidents were reported, compared to three in the Indian Ocean and eight cases of brutal violence against crews, nine cases of use of firearms and 66 crew members taken hostage. This compares to none in the Indian Ocean, 28 in the Strait of Malacca and 43 in the South China Sea (source: International Maritime Organisation, IMO)....