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=The European Union - Maritime Crimes=

The European Union aims to strengthen its presence and power at sea. To increase its capacity as a global provider of maritime safety, the European Union has adopted several reforms, measures and joint agreements, strengthening the organization's position as a world leader in maritime safety. The European Union Member States  form the world's largest combined Exclusive economic zone. The Union has continued to update and refine its maritime security strategy in response to the evolution of the maritime threats.

Maritime Crimes
The European Union (EU) has identified a series of maritime crimes as major threats to maritime security, according to the joint communication on a strengthened European Union Maritime Security Strategy adopted by the European Commission  and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The document defines maritime crime as  ''“Long-standing illicit activities, such as piracy, armed robbery at sea, smuggling of migrants and trafficking of human beings, arms and narcotics, as well as terrorism remain critical challenges. But new and evolving threats must also be dealt with increasing geopolitical competition, climate change and degradation of the marine environment and hybrid and cyber-attacks.”''

On maritime Crime the European Union doesn’t provide a precise definition of each of the crimes listed previously. It is added that ''“these crimes affect freedom of navigation and endanger major trade routes. As a global security provider, the EU is committed to addressing these challenges through preventive actions".''

The EU's position is that, as a global security provider, it is committed to meeting these challenges through preventive action. This is also affirmed by the Council of the European Union, which stresses the importance of tackling these crimes to ensure safe and secure maritime operations.

One specific form of maritime crime that the Union has defined is illegal fishing. According to the European Commission,“Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) depletes fish stocks, destroys marine habitats, distorts competition, puts honest fishers at disadvantage, and weakens coastal communities, particularly in developing countries.”. The EU's approach to combating illegal fishing is part of a wider effort to protect marine biodiversity, ensure sustainable fishing practices,  support coastal communities and generally fight blue crimes.

The EU's strategy to combat maritime crimes involves an addition of preventive and responsive measures. Through the enhanced European Union Maritime Security Strategy, the organisation aims to address the complex and interconnected nature of maritime crimes while adapting to new threats as they emerge. The strategy represents the EU's ongoing commitment to maintain secure maritime routes, supporting global trade, and promoting the safety and security of maritime operations.

Actors involved
Several actors, both within the European Union and in close partnership with the organization, are cooperating to strengthen operations at sea to fight maritime crime.

Internal actors
Within the Common Security and Defense Policy framework of the European Union.


 * European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) ; leading and promoting interagency cooperation: []


 * European Union External Action Service (EEAS) ; the diplomatic service of the EU on maritime security []


 * European Commission ; maritime security strategy []


 * European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) ; conducting various operations [] to stop cross-border crime and make European Union safer and more secure. []


 * European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) ; mission and strategy []

Partnerships with external actors
Increasing relations with international partners is one of the main objectives of the updated European Union Maritime Security Strategy


 * The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ; maritime activities []
 * The United Nations (UN)
 * Overview of Maritime Security: Responses and Challenges []
 * UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) []
 * International Maritime Organization (IMO) []
 * The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) . On its partnership with the European Union []
 * The African Union (AU) . Partnership with the European Union []

European Union Maritime Security Strategy - EUMSS
The maritime security domain is ever changing and the maritime criminals are always evolving. Adding up to this complex subject are climate change and the research for sustainable changes but also an ongoing war on European soil. It is in this context that the EU updated its Maritime Security Strategy and its Action Plan: An enhanced European Union Maritime Security Strategy for evolving maritime threats[]. ''“In line with the EU Strategic Compass for Security and Defence, this update of the EUMSS and its action plan aims to respond to the new challenges. It is an opportunity to drive forward sustainable solutions to maritime security problems. It is also an opportunity to further enhance the EU’s role internationally and further secure the EU’s access to an increasingly contested maritime domain.”''.

The European Union's first security strategy specifically focused on maritime issues was developed and published in 2014, largely in the wake of Russia's attack on Crimea, which emphasized the importance of the maritime domain and access to the sea as a point of strategic power. Russia’s attack on Ukraine was both in 2014 and 2022 one of the factors of development of the EU’s maritime security strategies. ''“the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea acted as a turning point in thinking about security issues in Europe. This was also the moment when the terms ‘hybrid war’, ‘hybrid conflict’, ‘hybrid threats’, ‘gray zone operations’, or ‘fourth-generation conflict’ began to proliferate in public discourse”.''

In its first maritime security strategy published in 2014 [] the union and the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats proposed the following definition: ''“The term hybrid threat refers to an action conducted by state or non-state actors, whose goal is to undermine or harm a target by influencing its decision-making at the local, regional, state or institutional level. Such actions are coordinated and synchronized and deliberately target democratic states’ and institutions’ vulnerabilities. Activities can take place, for example, in the political, conomic, military, civil, or information domains.”''. Maritime crimes were defined at the level of the Union as part of these “hybrid threats” since 2014, but specific definitions were not added in the updated strategy, consequently limiting the understanding of what the EU considers to be the criteria, scope, implication and threat that represent each of the listed crimes.

Strategic Actions and Initiatives
The Securitization theory plays a pivotal role in the European Union's research on border security, especially regarding the issue of migration, illegal migration, human trafficking and human security issues especially since the 2015 European migrant crisis.

The securitization framework provides resources for understanding how policy-makers declare a condition of ‘exceptional threat’ on migration.

“Security represents one among other issues that impact on, shape, and constrain migration; human beings must be the central focus of the analysis.”

To address these challenges, the EU has outlined a series of strategic actions in its joint communication and action plan. These actions aim to reinforce command structures, fill data and expertise gaps, and promote overall capacity building. Specific measures include efined list of precise action structuring the updated strategy and action plan:


 * Step up activities at sea
 * Cooperate with partners
 * Enhance maritime domain situational awareness
 * Manage risks and threats
 * Boost capabilities
 * Educate and train

Maritime crimes being hybrid threats make them difficult to manage and to define. The most developed and precise examples of EU action against maritime crimes are IUU fishing and the smuggling of migrants.

IUU fishing
One of the best, if not the only fully developed issue within the securitisation framework is the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing as a Maritime Security Concern.Taking the example of IUU fishing as a maritime security issue, represents the importance of defining a subject as a security risk to develop policies and regulations around it. Needing more than international and multilateral action to be dealt with, IUU fishing has to be defined as a security risk. ''“Some regional organizations have developed securitisation policy narratives, in which IUU fishing has been explicitly identified as a risk. Examples include declarations both of which have identified IUU fishing as an eradication objective in their marine security strategies”''.

Smuggling of migrants
On the other hand, illegal migration, smuggling of humans and trafficking issues are harder to manage. Being a human security issues makes it more conflictual to manage. It is often a tricky aspect to define and political views are more likely to confront each other on these types of issues. The EU still has policies to control its borders and to fight crime in the Mediterranean Sea, in particular the illegal smuggling of migrants, human trafficking as well as marine pollution. Frontex, alongside the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) conduct various maritime operations to fight these cross-border crimes and carry out other surveillance tasks in multiple sea basins around the European continent. .

The EU should further develop these important multipurpose operations. These missions complete tasks such as border surveillance, screening of migrants, rescuing missions, seizing smuggled merchandise,  intelligence on criminal networks

FRONTEX operations: The three main operations that are being conducted currently are:


 * Operation Indalo: between Spain and Morocco
 * Operation Themis: Central Mediterranean Sea from waters covering flows from Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Turkey and Albania. It covers the most active migratory route into the EU the past year.
 * Operation Poseidon: Greek sea borders with Turkey and the Greek islands.

Key objectives and challenges
The European Union has increasingly gained recognition as both a pioneer and a major international actor in maritime security. The EU continues to develop its policies to solidify its position as a leading maritime security actor and aims to be a "reliable, long-term, security partner and maritime security provider" as demonstrated in its updated strategy and action plan.

The EU's primary goal is to enhance its role in maritime security while dealing with existing policy gaps. One significant challenge is interagency cooperation and coordination. As Christian Bueger and Timothy Edmunds argue ''“An example is the tension between border protection and saving lives at sea visible in the EU’s operations in the Mediterranean. Such problems may be aggravated by interagency rivalries or competition for resources—for instance, among navies, coast guards, police, and other agencies at the national level; or, at the EU level, between military structures and civil entities such as FRONTEX"''.

Combating Illegal Activities at Sea
The EU is also intensifying efforts to combat illegal activities at sea, such as drug trafficking and other illicit practices. The Union aims to maintain and strengthen maritime safety inspections, with a focus on cybersecurity and passenger ship safety. These measures are part of a wider commitment to enhancing maritime safety and making the seas safer for all.

The Joint communication and action plan were designed to consolidate its military presence in Europe and internationally. This includes: education and training (e.g. organization of annual naval exercise, enhancing existing naval operations), boosting capacities (e.g. cybersecurity, research), developing joint forces for a defense of Europe, maritime awareness (e.g. information sharing, surveillance)

Overall, the EU is dedicated to evolving its maritime security policies to address current and emerging threats. It aims to do this through enhanced interagency cooperation, strategic action, and a commitment to international partnerships, with the ultimate goal of positioning itself as a leader in global maritime security.