EU should use leverage with Morocco after Ceuta crossings, EU migration chief says

BRUSSELS, Aug 6 - The European Union should use all available leverage, including visa and trade policy, to secure cooperation from Morocco on migration, EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner said on Thursday.

About 72,000 migrants entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa last week, according to Spanish authorities, in one of the largest movements into EU territory in recent years.

"One very important reminder from Ceuta is that to have control, we must cooperate with our neighbours," Brunner told a European Parliament committee meeting. "But as long as control depends on the goodwill of one neighbouring state, we remain... vulnerable."

Morocco's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The EU has increasingly relied on agreements with North African countries to limit irregular migration, providing financial support and other incentives in exchange for stronger border controls and cooperation on returns.

Critics argue the approach leaves the bloc exposed to pressure from transit countries that can use migration flows to seek political or economic concessions.

Brunner said the EU must deepen cooperation with third countries on returns and readmission while using all available tools to ensure effective partnerships.

The comments came amid questions over whether Moroccan authorities turned a blind eye to the crossings.

Lahcen Haddad, co-president of the EU-Morocco Joint Parliamentary Committee, defended Morocco's record, telling Reuters that the country had prevented more than 227,000 attempted irregular crossings and dismantled over 1,050 smuggling networks between 2023 and 2025.

"Criticism is legitimate, but so is acknowledging the scale of Morocco's contribution," he said.

Ceuta mayor Juan Jesus Vivas told lawmakers on Thursday that around 100 people had died during the mass crossing and that between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants remained in the enclave.

"I reiterate this today, having seen what I have seen: Morocco is not a reliable country," he said, adding that responsibility for Europe's only land border with Africa should rest with Europe rather than Morocco.

On Monday, Morocco rejected suggestions it was responsible for the surge, saying Spain should have anticipated the consequences of a court ruling that migrants arriving by swimming could not be immediately deported if no physical border barrier had been crossed.

ANTI-SMUGGLING DEBATE

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Spanish and Moroccan authorities have said migrant smuggling networks drove the crossings into Ceuta.

Brunner said the episode underscored the need for stronger action against smugglers and urged lawmakers to advance the EU's anti-smuggling directive, proposed by the Commission nearly three years ago.

Humanitarian groups have criticised the proposal, saying it does not clearly exempt those providing migrants with food, shelter or other assistance from criminal sanctions.

"What happened in Ceuta should be a wake-up call to expand safe pathways to work and protection, not a pretext to simply push through new sanctions," said Chiara Catelli, advocacy officer at PICUM, a rights organisation.

"Smuggling networks thrive where people have no safe or realistic way to seek protection or rebuild their lives in Europe." REUTERS