EU stands by the Libyan people

The European Union will continue to help Libya in its process of democratic transition and reconstruction. Humanitarian aid efforts, coordinated under the United Nations, will be sustained as long as needed.

© European Union, 2011

An EU humanitarian aid and civil protection (ECHO) team remains in Tripoli to monitor the humanitarian situation. Its present priorities include the protection of civilians and assessing the movement of populations and further needs arising from this. The team is working together with other international partners, under the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In addition to the Libyan capital, ECHO experts are deployed at the Tunisian-Libyan border and ECHO has an office in the eastern town of Benghazi. "We provide Libyans with direct humanitarian assistance, following the principles of neutrality and impartiality," said José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.

As of 11 September 2011, the EU's and member states' financing of humanitarian aid and civil protection in the Libyan crisis totalled 153 232 569 euros. Commission-funded humanitarian assistance, worth 70 million euros, has enabled the evacuation of 24 000 third-country nationals, the delivery (including the financing, coordination mechanisms and air transport) of relief aid, and the provision of emergency health care, just to name a few examples.

Beyond tackling the most urgent humanitarian needs, the European Union is preparing both immediate and long-term measures to support the stabilisation process led by the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC). These include activities in the field of security sector reform and disarmament; short-term assistance for the NTC to build up state institutions; and provision of training to help strengthen civil society.

In parallel with assistance, steps are being taken to lift sanctions on a range of Libyan entities to boost the country's capacity to re-launch its economy. On 1 September, 28 entities were de-listed.

The opening of an EU office in Tripoli on 31 August provided a strong symbol of EU support for the people of Libya. The other EU office in Benghazi remains open.

The EU's engagement with Libya will be based on the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity. On 18 July, Spanish diplomat Bernardino León Gross was appointed by the Council as the first ever European Union Special Representative for the Southern Mediterranean, tasked with supporting the transition to democracy in the EU's southern neighbourhood.

The message of Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, to the Libyans, sums it up: "We were, we are and we will be on your side in facing these tremendous challenges".

More information:
Message by European Council President Van Rompuy to the Paris Conference on Libya (pdf)
Libyan crisis - EU humanitarian aid factsheet (pdf)
Responding to the challenge of stabilisation in post-conflict Libya (pdf)
EU lifts asset freeze on several Libyan entities (pdf)
What the EU has been doing to support the Libyan people (Commission press release)
European Union external action website on Libya