Mass migration through the Central Mediterranean route represents a challenge for
the security of the European Union, Usually the EU defines itself as a normative foreign
policy actor, but is it a valid self-definition in the case of tackling migration
through the Central Mediterranean? The EU have been trying to handle migration with
several civilian and military missions which pertain to different policy areas where
different rules apply to decision making. So far reconciling the member states’ interest
proved to be difficult, thus the EU faces internal challenges either regarding its
naval operations in the Mediterranean Sea, or regarding the question of Libya. In
this chapter we analyse Frontex operations Triton and Themis, and CSDP operations
EUBAM Libya, EUNAVFOR MED Sophia and Irini. Our main focus is on examining whether
the European Union’s communication and actions regarding these missions are in line,
or a decoupling can be observed. We argue that normative aspirations of the Union
have been side-lined by security and stability concerns, thus a light shift from normative
power towards a pragmatist power can be observed in the case of the Central Mediterranean.
