EU Commission wants to strip smuggling networks of payments and assets

Far-reaching aims beyond migration

The measures go beyond combating migration. They also target other serious crimes such as arms trafficking, drug trafficking, and money laundering. The EU Commission is thereby linking migration, security, and financial policy in a single instrument.

According to the available information, Brunner is from Vienna and belongs to the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). He has been serving as Migration Commissioner since the current Commission took office. The available sources do not provide further information on his exact role within the Brussels authority.

With this push, the EU Commission is responding to the persistently high number of migrants reaching the European Union via the Mediterranean and the Balkan route. According to findings by law enforcement agencies, smuggling networks charge large sums for the crossing or onward transportation.

Asset freezes and list of listed persons

The sanctions proposals provide that natural and legal persons connected to criminal smuggling networks are to be placed on an EU list. No payments or financial services may then be provided to these listed persons and organizations.

The foreign ministers of the EU member states still have to approve the proposal. In the past, individual states had expressed reservations about far-reaching sanctions regimes, particularly when they involve interference in national competencies on internal security and justice.

Open questions on scope and impact

Critics raise the question of whether a payment ban will actually hit the structures of smuggling networks. Since many transactions take place outside the European banking system, the practical impact may remain limited. Supporters point out that sanctions could at least cut off business relationships within the EU.

With the initiative, the EU Commission is pursuing the goal of weakening the economic foundations of the smuggling industry. In recent years, the Brussels authority had already set in motion several packages of measures to combat smuggling crime, including tougher criminal penalties and intensified cooperation with countries of origin and transit.

It remains unclear within what timeframe the proposal is to be deliberated in EU bodies. The available sources also provide no detailed information on the concrete design of the list, the scope of the asset freezes, or possible exceptions for humanitarian aid.

Observers see the initiative as a signal to the public. With a clear stance against the financial flows of the smugglers, the Commission wants to demonstrate its capacity to act, according to its own presentation. Whether the proposal will have the desired effect will only become apparent in implementation and in the subsequent evaluation.