On June 21th, the European Council met in Brussels to adopt the EU’s strategic agenda for 2019-2024. The time and place is very significant, as summer is the period during which, in particular, the migration issue is tackled and discussed.

However, this year, it didn’t appear at the top of the EU’s priorities list and it couldn’t be any different.  Until the European Council and the European Parliament will not find an agreement on the nominee for the new President of the European Commission, the Vice President, and the Commissioners, the nominations and Brexit will be the hot topics among the European leaders.

The priorities of the agenda for the next five years are:

1. THE NEXT INSTITUTIONAL CYCLE
2. MULTIANNUAL FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK
3. CLIMATE CHANGE
4. DISINFORMATION AND HYBRID THREATS
5. EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Regarding the external relations’ priority, the EU considers Africa as a fundamental player, asthis short excerpt from the Council final conclusion states: “The European Council underlines the crucial importance of the EU’s strategic partnership with Africa. We are committed to developing it further with a shared ambition to face together common and global challenges. The stability, security and prosperity of the countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean are of crucial importance for the EU. In this context, peace and long-term stability in Libya are a common priority. The EU reiterates its support for the UN-led process for the cessation of hostilities and an inclusive political solution”.

Russia, Moldavia and Cyprus have been tackled by the European Council as well, for latest developments, but none of these countries affect Europe in terms of migrants. Indeed, when we talk about people moving from a place to another, there is no area important as much as Africa.

Africa, however, it’s not a country. Africa doesn’t speak as one voice; it doesn’t have always a unique and unified opinion.

This is visible by the fragmentation of its states, as Libya, for example, Algeria (a new Arab spring?), or Sudan, which shows a continent where what has begun almost ten years ago with the push of Ghedaffi and the Arab springs in the Southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, could still have consequences on Africa’s internal balances and repercussions on migrations flows.

This scenario shows that what is happening now in states like Libya, Algeria, or Sudan, taking in account the huge differences among them, is a continent where whoever holds the power can be easily divested by his/her seat, a kind of Ukraine.

The point is not just who will be in power during and after the summer, because we already know when there are wars or however when local authorities are more committed on internal matters, the point is that it’s a good time for human traffickers and their business.