The EU has joined forces with the UK and Albania to extend the fight against people smugglers across the wider continent, after forceful interventions by Giorgia Meloni and Rishi Sunak at a summit of 47 European leaders in Spain.
The plan was forged at the sidelines of the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Granada with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the leaders of France, the Netherlands and Albania – Emmanuel Macron, Mark Rutte and Edi Rama – joining the Italian and UK prime ministers.
The leaders emerged from the meeting smiling, and Rutte quipped “problem solved” to aides. The warm relations between Sunak and Von der Leyen were also evident.
Macron told reporters they had agreed a new five-point plan to build on and then export to the entire membership of the EPC, to create the first concerted continent-wide fight against people smugglers.
Not only would they tackle criminals operating boats in the Mediterranean and the Channel, he said, but also organised crime in wider Europe.
“We will enlarge this format and this approach to the EPC because it makes much more sense as we will have the coalition of the willing: members of the EU, the European Commission plus Albania and the UK and all the other countries ready to join the initiative,” he said.
“So we will elaborate on a five-point document and we propose the other members of the EPC can join if they want,” he added.
The plan was seen as an endorsement for Sunak’s campaign to force migration on to the agenda at the summit at the 11th hour.
Despite a diplomatic row with the host country, Spain, it was absent from the agenda until Wednesday night when it was revealed that Sunak and Meloni had managed to force it on to leaders’ schedules.
Earlier in the day, there were rumours over the future of the EPC itself after Sunak cancelled a press conference.
One diplomat reported that the British prime minister was frustrated that migration was not top of the agenda and could not understand why as it is considered to be the hottest political topic both in the EU and the UK.
It is understood Sunak is also seeking guarantees that migration will remain the priority at the next EPC summit, which is scheduled to be held in London next June.
“His feeling is if migration is not the focus at next year’s EPC there is no point in having it,” said one senior diplomat. “But we are confident that it will happen, he just needs it to work for him in order to make the commitment to host it,” the diplomat added.
Sources say he was also frustrated that a new deal with the EU’s border protection agency, Frontex, which would give the UK access to EU intelligence, had not yet been signed off.
A No 10 source insisted Sunak did not snub the conference by not hosting a press conference as he was “prioritising meetings with his counterparts to discuss migration” and pointed to him having done more than 40 interviews in the past week, during the Conservative party conference.
However, government sources suggested there was more to the reported snub than met the eye.
They said that Sunak had refused to confirm the rough details of when the next summit, due to be held in the UK, would be.
But after successfully forcing migration on to the agenda, the UK, EU and Albania will now work on the implementation of their five-point plan and invited all 17 non-EU members of the EPC to join a continent-wide alliance against people smugglers.
They will offer other countries assistance to strengthen their borders and close down people smuggling through shared intelligence and police and security strategies.
A briefing document seen by the Guardian reveals they will also work on strengthening search-and-rescue missions to avert a repeat of the Greek boat tragedy this summer in which hundreds died.
In addition they will intensify efforts in Africa with “comprehensive partnerships with key countries to address root causes of migration”.
And they have pledged to work on “opportunities for humanitarian admission and resettlement to those entitled to protection”.
Last week the European Commission revealed there were 600,000 stuck in limbo in the EU awaiting decisions on asylum applications.
