New horizons or old barriers? The 2023 EU anti-smuggling directive proposal and human mobility in the Mediterranean

In the context of the global push to counter migrant smuggling, in November 2023 the European Commission presented a new anti-smuggling directive proposal, replacing the 2002 Facilitators’ Package. In this article, we critically analyse two key elements of the new directive proposal and reflect on their implications on human mobility in the Central Mediterranean. First, we explore the proposal’s limited scope, which frames the facilitation of movement primarily as a criminal offence performed by migrant smuggling networks alone. Second, we assess the introduction of the financial or material benefit as a constitutive element of the crime of smuggling. We then evaluate these components in light of the recent developments in the criminalization of sea rescue operations and people on the move along the Central Mediterranean route. Finally, we raise concerns over the directive’s potential impact on human mobility within the Euro-Mediterranean region. While it may reduce the likelihood of sea rescue efforts from being labelled as smuggling, the directive will allow for the continued prosecution of people on the move who pilot boats for no financial benefit, in an effort to save their lives and those of others.