Migrants, weapons and oil : Europe and Libya after the sanctions

Abstract

Long shunned by Western countries for its support of terrorist activities, Libya has, over recent years, become an increasingly important partner of European countries in a number of key policy fields. This article examines the rapprochement between Europe and Libya in three areas that have been of particular interest to European Union (EU) countries: immigration control, military cooperation, and collaboration in the energy field. In all of these important policy domains, there has been a significant rise in cooperation between European countries and Libya over recent years. While there has been some debate and criticism within the EU regarding the acceptability of collaborating with the former outlaw state, given its poor human rights record, such criticism has been largely confined to the military (and nuclear) field, whereas the deepening collaboration with Libya in the area of immigration control seems largely acceptable to EU countries. As Libya is playing an increasingly crucial role in several areas that are amongst the EU’s main security (and commercial) interests in the Mediterranean region, there has generally been little, if any, willingness on the part of European countries to raise human rights issues in their relationships with Libya.