EU Policy-Makers and the (Failed) Reform of the Anti-smuggling Regime

This chapter explores how anti-smuggling policies are adopted at the EU level. In doing so, I will first and foremost consider those evidentiary elements that have been most strongly addressed in the previous chapters, while analysing the situation on the ground and the process of information and evidence uploading. I will start off with the potential reform of the Facilitators Package, particularly related to cases of unjust criminalisation of non-smugglers. In light of the theoretical approach chosen, institutions are key. Hence, both in the analysis of the failed reform of the Facilitators Package and in the broader consideration of smuggling and migration policies that follow, the focus is placed on them, on the differences between each of them and on how they interact. Special attention is given to the European Parliament and the European Commission, which are more directly connected to the ground and more incisively exposed to evidence. The first part of the chapter will therefore focus on some specific policies and acts—such as the proposed reforms of the Facilitators Package and the 2018 European Parliament resolution on search and rescue—and on the different approaches of and roles played by institutions therein. The second part will zoom in on the role of the Parliament and the Commission, as institutions that are particularly exposed to evidence, and on the nested arenas in which they move. Inter-institutional dynamics will also be given due attention. In doing so, I will also consider other smuggling-related policies, such as CSDP Operation Sophia and the 2016 EU-Turkey Statement. In the conclusions, I will point towards three main tendencies, which revolve around evidence-based policy-making, inter-institutional dynamics and substantive aspects of policy.