The European Commission is preparing a 12-country regional plan to address migration to Europe via the Atlantic and western Mediterranean, according to a document seen by Devex.
An outline of the "Team Europe Initiative for a Comprehensive Migration Approach in the Maghreb, Sahel and West African Countries in the Atlantic / Western Mediterranean Route" was discussed with officials from European Union states at a meeting in early October.
“The Initiative will mainly focus on migration management and migration governance actions,” according to the document, which adds that “the Western Mediterranean/Atlantic routes have seen a substantive rise in flows in the last years and the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in origin and transit countries and the lasting deteriorating security situation in the Sahel make the prospects worrisome.”