This Policy Report considers the feasibility of a common European approach to search and rescue (SAR) in the Mediterranean. Grounded in the analysis of prevailing legal, political, operational, and financial conditions, it considers five possible models for a European SAR framework, arranged along a centralisation spectrum: 1) an EU integrated scheme; 2) a Frontex-led formula; 3) a ‘coalition of the willing’ mechanism, built around like-minded member states and related actors; 4) a system based on the delegation of SAR duties to third countries; and 5) a hybrid, staggered model. The authors make the case for a formula that is fully compliant with international and EU legal obligations, anchored in multi-stakeholder collaboration, solidarity and fair-sharing of responsibility. Central to this approach lies the decriminalisation of SAR, a paradigm shift of EU migration discourse and the introduction of legal pathways on a credible scale, rendering irregular crossings unnecessary.
The authors of this brief would like to thank Felicity Attard, Diego Caballero Velez, Eugenio Cusumano, Patricia Vella de Fremeaux, and Kalypso Sofia Sdrali.
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