The Facilitation Proposal: assessing the EU’s response to the smuggling of migrants

The smuggling of migrants is a global phenomenon, and the fight against smuggling is seen as a critical component of countries’ migration management strategies. It often relies on the idea that smuggling networks must be dismantled to protect migrants from exploitation, and to reduce irregular migration.

In the EU, the so-called Facilitator’s Package of 2002 established a common definition for smuggling offenses and set up a penal framework to sanction this crime. In November 2023, the European Commission presented a proposal to update and strengthen this framework. This is currently being negotiated, and the Council of the EU reached a common position in December 2024.

Gabriella Sanchez identifies several risks with the proposed reform:

• While the proposal includes a humanitarian clause, it could still not protect humanitarian assistance to irregular migrants against criminalisation. Migrants who contribute to unauthorised entry could also be held criminally liable.  

• The proposal would make it possible for member states to impose heftier fines, longer sentences and other sanctions, but there is little evidence to show that this would indeed prevent exploitative smuggling practices.

• The proposal recognises the need for data on counter-smuggling efforts, but there is still a risk of data gaps and lack of comparability. This can make it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of member states’ enforcement actions and raises concerns about accountability and transparency.

The author finds that the Facilitation Proposal in its current iteration continues to rely on tropes and over-generalisations concerning the smuggling of migrants, while leaving largely unaddressed the lack of equal access to pathways to safe, orderly and regular migration as the main driver of smuggling. It is therefore likely that the EU’s efforts to dismantle smuggling networks will continue to be called into question.