THE SHIPS OF OPERATION SOPHIA IN THE DRY DOCK: ELEMENTS OF A SETBACK FOR THE COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY

Operation Sophia of the EU, which was established in 2015 to fight against the migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons business in the Mediterranean, is in a state of paralysis, as it has been decided to withdraw the ships from the sea. Thus, it has only the task of training the Libyan coastguard forces so that they are the ones who persecute those crimes. In this article, we have reviewed the results that the EU naval operation has produced so far and the causes of its current situation, to determine whether or not it can be said that it has failed. All in view, we have come to the conclusion that yes it can be said that it has not responded to the expectations that were raised in its inception. However, in honor of the truth, we think that Sophia's paralysis, in reality, is not so much a failure of the operation itself, but rather expresses the limits of the PCSD.