The European Parliament adopted by 454 votes to 130, with 54 abstentions, a recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the situation in Libya.

Over the past decade, deep divisions and confrontations between major Libyan stakeholders, further exacerbated by interference from foreign actors, has led to continuous power struggles and significantly hindered the national reconciliation process.

The EU has adopted a renewed partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood with an average of EUR 37 million per year between 2021 and 2024 allocated to state-building efforts, human development needs and basic health services in Libya.

In addition, Libya is also a key point of transit and departure for migrants attempting to reach Europe, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa. One of the objectives of the EU’s support for border management in Libya is to prevent the loss of life in the Mediterranean.

Recommendations

Against this background, Parliament recommended that, in implementing the EU policy on Libya, the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy should:

- ensure that a UN-facilitated, Libyan-led and Libyan-owned inclusive national reconciliation process is given the strongest support possible in order to deliver longer-term stability and security;

- step up EU diplomatic efforts to restore peace and security in the country and nominate, as a matter of priority, an EU special representative for Libya ;

- reinforce diplomatic channels with international actors and increase efforts to mediate and reach a unified international strategy towards a peaceful, stable and unified Libya;

- nominate, as a matter of priority, an EU special representative for Libya;

- increase support to the Libyan authorities for the implementation of a comprehensive security sector reform and for policies in the area of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of armed groups;

- allocate adequate EU funds to projects aimed at removing landmines and other unexploded ordnances;

- ensure that private vessels conducting search and rescue activities comply with relevant international and EU law, and cooperate with the competent authorities of Member States and Frontex in order to safeguard the safety of people in distress at sea;

- ensure that migrants rescued at sea are disembarked in places of safety, and that southern Member States are not left alone to carry the responsibility of disembarkation and reception;

- call on all actors to refrain from using oil as an instrument of political confrontation and keep all wells and oil terminals open;

- work towards a more stable energy partnership with Libya which would help to increase Libya’s capabilities in the sector and diversify the EU’s energy sources.

The Libyan authorities are urged to:

- lift visa restrictions for members of the foreign and local press and to guarantee journalists’ safety;

- stop criminalising fundamental freedoms;

- introduce a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with the objective of ultimately abolishing it;

- ensure fair, transparent, inclusive and sustainable redistribution of oil revenues by pursuing a vision of shared economic prosperity for all people in the country;

- ensure migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are protected, and guarantee full, safe and unhindered access to disembarkation points and to all rooms of detention centres for humanitarian organisations providing assistance to these vulnerable categories of people;

- provide humanitarian actors with adequate financial resources to ensure an effective humanitarian response within the detention centres and in urban areas;

- enhance cooperation with neighbourhood countries regarding the creation of safe and legal pathways for migration;

- enhance cooperation with other countries and the International Organisation for Migration regarding the voluntary, safe and dignified return to countries of origin of migrants stranded in Libya and their reintegration into the societies and communities that receive them.

The Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted an own-initiative report by Giuliano PISAPIA (S&D, IT) on a European Parliament recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the situation in Libya.

Over the past decade, deep divisions and confrontations between major Libyan stakeholders, further exacerbated by interference from foreign actors, has led to continuous power struggles and significantly hindered the national reconciliation process. Since the beginning of July 2022, mass protests against the mismanagement of political institutions and the deterioration of living conditions have been held across the country with protesters calling for elections to be held without delay.

The EU has adopted a renewed partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood with an average of EUR 37 million per year between 2021 and 2024 allocated to state-building efforts, human development needs and basic health services in Libya.

In addition, Libya is also a key point of transit and departure for migrants attempting to reach Europe, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa. One of the objectives of the EU’s support for border management in Libya is to prevent the loss of life in the Mediterranean.

Recommendations

Against this background, the committee recommended that, in implementing the EU policy on Libya, the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy should:

- ensure that a UN-facilitated, Libyan-led and Libyan-owned inclusive national reconciliation process is given the strongest support possible in order to deliver longer-term stability and security;

- reinforce diplomatic channels with international actors and increase efforts to mediate and reach a unified international strategy towards a peaceful, stable and unified Libya;

- nominate, as a matter of priority, an EU special representative for Libya;

- increase support to the Libyan authorities for the implementation of a comprehensive security sector reform and for policies in the area of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of armed groups;

- allocate adequate EU funds to projects aimed at removing landmines and other unexploded ordnances ;

- call on all actors to refrain from using oil as an instrument of political confrontation and keep all wells and oil terminals open;

- ensure that private vessels conducting search and rescue activities comply with relevant international and EU law, and cooperate with the competent authorities of Member States and Frontex in order to safeguard the safety of people in distress at sea;

- ensure that migrants rescued at sea are disembarked in places of safety, and that southern Member States are not left alone to carry the responsibility of disembarkation and reception;

- mobilise adequate EU funds based on reviews of previous programmes in the country under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) – Global Europe;

- continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Libya, with a special focus on the most vulnerable groups;

- reinforce safe and legal pathways for migration to the EU.

The Libyan authorities are urged to:

- lift visa restrictions for members of the foreign and local press and to guarantee journalists’ safety;

- stop criminalising fundamental freedoms;

- introduce a moratorium on the use of the death penalty , with the objective of ultimately abolishing it;

- ensure fair, transparent, inclusive and sustainable redistribution of oil revenues by pursuing a vision of shared economic prosperity for all people in the country;

- ensure migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are protected, and guarantee full, safe and unhindered access to disembarkation points and to all rooms of detention centres for humanitarian organisations providing assistance to these vulnerable categories of people;

- enhance cooperation with other countries and the International Organisation for Migration regarding the voluntary, safe and dignified return to countries of origin of migrants stranded in Libya and their reintegration into the societies and communities that receive them.