Almost no-one in Europe is taking Rishi Sunak’s 'Stop the Boats' plan seriously
(But they welcome his offer of even more UK money to help with the EU’s migration crisis)
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2023
Brexit Facts4EU assesses the PM’s ‘success’ at the Spanish Summit against the reality
Fresh from his rainy party conference in Manchester on Monday and Tuesday this week, Rishi Sunak headed to sunny Granada in Spain on Thursday for a meeting of leaders as part of the ‘European Political Community’ – a branding idea dreamt up by France’s President Macron.
The Spanish government, as hosts, point-blank refused to allow the British PM to put migration on the official agenda. Instead Mr Sunak was forced to hold a small fringe event which barely a handful of countries attended. The Spanish provided what can only be described as a small office for this meeting. The UK Government then lauded the outcome – an “8-point plan” to tackle migration and organised crime associated with it – as a success.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org takes a dispassionate look at what was achieved and whether it will make any difference other than emptying the UK’s coffers even further.
Who attended Rishi Sunak’s fringe event?
The Government tells us that the leaders of just four countries out of the 41 attended the PM’s fringe event, described by it as “a small-group meeting” : Italy, the Netherlands, France, and Albania.
The “8-point plan” which the Government and the Prime Minister has lauded therefore has no majority support – nor interest, apparently – from the vast majority of the other countries present.
The United Kingdom is one of the five most important countries by economic size in Europe, the other four being Germany, France, Italy and Poland. The communiqué issued after the ‘side meeting’ on Thursday came from Rishi Sunak and his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni.
The pair then co-wrote an article together which was published in the Corriere della Sera and in The Times.
It is clear that the British prime minister has struck up a special friendship with the young Italian, which is to be welcomed. They have a common problem: each of them is facing an influx of illegal migrants coming by boat. In Italy’s case as we have reported, the numbers are much greater than in the UK and the issue is high on the agenda in both countries.
Photo right: Rishi Sunak in Spain on Thursday with the Italian PM
© Giorgia Meloni
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
Migrant arrivals in Italy
01 Jan 2021 to 18 Sept 2023
- 2021 : 42,750
- 2022 : 66,237
- 01 Jan to 18 Sept 2023 : 129,869
[Source: Ministero dell’Interno, 19 Sept 2023.]
© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2023 - click to enlarge
We can also reveal that in just one week in September 14,106 illegal migrants arrived on Italian shores. The majority were young African men.
The British PM at an EU Summit? No, this is a ‘new’ European forum with no power
Many readers will not have heard of the ‘European Political Community’ (EPC), or if they have they may not know who is in it and what it does.
After many hours of research we regret that we cannot be definitive about this. Even the EPC Summit’s own website doesn’t seem to be sure how many countries are involved and constantly refers to “leaders of around 50 European countries”. (At least we have been able to count them, see below.)
As far as we can tell this is simply a re-branding of the Council of Europe, using President Macron’s ‘grand plan’ for a forum for all European countries. In reality we can see no difference to the Council of Europe. Indeed Spain was the host of this Summit because of its current presidency of that organisation.
Please note: The Council of Europe should not be confused with the European Council – an EU body - nor the European Commission, nor any of the myriad of other EU organisations using ‘European’ as part of their names. We would summarise by saying that the EPC is a talking shop for leaders of European countries, which has no power and which takes no decisions.
Here is what we know about the ‘European Political Community’ (EPC)
Brexit Facts4EU painstakingly counted the number of leaders of European countries who attended the Summit. Including the UK there were 45.
Delving further into this number, it turns out that it includes ‘micro-states’ which are effectively part of France and Italy: San Marino, Monaco, and Andorra. This takes the number down to 42. Then there is Kosovo, which isn’t even recognised by the ultra-liberal UN as a country. So we’re left with 41. This is a long way from “around 50”, in our view.
What was achieved?
Speaking ahead of the ‘European Political Community’ summit, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
“Levels of illegal migration to mainland Europe are the highest they have been in nearly a decade. With thousands of people dying at sea, propelled by people smugglers, the situation is both immoral and unsustainable. We cannot allow criminal gangs to decide who comes to Europe’s shores.
“When it comes to facing down the threat from Putin, confronting the risks and opportunities of AI or dealing with illegal migration, there is strength in unity.
“These issues transcend national borders and require creative Europe-wide solutions - that is what I will be discussing with my fellow leaders at the European Political Community summit in Spain today.”
How much is this going to cost us?
The ‘eight-point plan’ from the UK and Italy essentially says “let’s work together”. It contains fine words but little of substance. The plan even includes supporting “sustainable development through education, job creation and climate adaptation actions”.
The elephant in the room, however, is funding. The PM’s plan includes a commitment for “the deployment of personnel, equipment, and other material” as well as “providing adequate levels of funding to ensure an appropriate response to mixed movements by ensuring protection and enhancing assisted voluntary return and reintegration”.
Observations
Neither Germany nor Poland attended on Thursday. This might seem strange given that the German government has just announced that it wants to reduce immigration and the Polish government - despite its Schengen ‘open borders’ commitment - has just re-introduced full border controls with its neighbours for precisely the same reason.
Relations between Italy and Germany have recently become strained. One of the reasons is the German government’s continued funding of NGOs which run ships in the Mediterranean whose purpose is to pick up and ferry illegal migrants to Italian ports. Germany has then refused to take any of these migrants. So Rishi has Macron and Giorgia has Scholz.
If the PM wished to make progress on illegal migration all he had to do was to sit Emmanuel Macron down in a room and tell him to take back his illegal migrants. In one fell swoop this would “stop the boats”, which is one of Rishi Sunak’s five pledges to the British people.
President Macron refuses to discuss this, saying it’s a matter for the EU. And of course the German EU President Ursula von der Leyen and her EU Commissariat haven’t lifted a finger.
We must get reports like this out there
Reports like the one above take far longer to research, write and produce than many people realise. If they were easy, readers would see other organisations also producing these daily. However, there’s little point in the Facts4EU.Org team working long hours, seven days-a-week, if we lack the resources to promote them effectively – to the public, to MPs, and to the media. This is where you come in, dear reader.
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[ Sources: No.10 | Italian government | Council of Europe | EU Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sat 07 Oct 2023
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