Written question asked by Lord Hylton (Crossbench) on Friday, 25 September 2020, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Friday, 9 October 2020. It was answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Conservative) on Monday, 5 October 2020 on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Libya: EU Aid

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they contributed to EU funding used to train and support the Libyan Coastguard in each of the last three years; and what estimate they have made of the total amount spent by the EU on that purpose in each of those years.

Answer: EU training support to the Libyan Coastguard and Navy (LCGN) was provided through EU naval Operation Sophia, to which the UK made a voluntary contribution of €595,000 on 12 May 2017. No contributions were made by the UK to EU training of the LCGN after that date. LCGN training was funded out of voluntary contributions from Member States and we estimate the total amount to be approximately €3 million. The operation formally closed on 31 March 2020. It was succeeded by EU Operation IRINI, to which the UK has not contributed.

Secondary information