The EU has agreed upon the sanctions it plans to take against the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and will formalise its action next week.
The sanctions are expected to include an arms embargo, assets freeze and travel ban against top Libyan officials, including Col Gaddafi and his close aides.
However, there was conflicting information on Malta’s precise position. Sources close to the European Commission told The Times there was an agreement on the sanctions and all 27 member states were on board. In fact, the German Foreign Ministry last night confirmed the agreement and it was reported in international media.
On the other hand, when contacted, a government spokesman denied that a final agreement had been reached. “Nothing has been formally agreed yet,” the spokesman said.
This was reiterated in a statement issued by the Department of Information last night denying that any agreement, informal or otherwise, had been reached by the EU over the sanctions to be taken against Col Gaddafi.
“While preparatory discussions are under way among EU member states, no decisions have been taken on the imposition of any sanctions vis-à-vis Libya. In all discussions has maintained that priority should be given to evacuating EU citizens,” the statement said.
Sources close to the meeting said although in principle all 27 member states agreed on the need for “restrictive measures”, Malta, Italy and Cyprus, which had close ties to Libya, raised concerns about moving “too quickly to impose sanctions”, especially as it was still unclear whether Col Gaddafi would still be in power in the coming weeks. This was also denied by the government.
However, the sources insisted: “The EU shared the concern of those member states closest to Libya, however, at the end of the meeting all 27 member states were on board.”
The EU, the sources said, was waiting for a similar decision to be taken by the UN Security Council, which started meeting in New York late yesterday, before formalising its position.
The UK and France, both EU member states and permanent members of the Security Council, tabled a resolution to impose sanctions on the Libyan regime aimed at pushing Col Gaddafi to step down. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy became the first EU leader to specifically say Col Gaddafi had to go.
Earlier in the day, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Asthon had clearly indicated the EU’s possible agreement on sanctions.
Saying the EU should “shortly” be in a position to announce its first restrictive measures, Ms Ashton’s spokesman said the EU was coordinating its actions together with the UN, the US and other important international players.
Commission sources told The Times that, although these sanctions were not expected “to start biting” immediately, they would “surely send a clear message to Col Gaddafi”.
Meanwhile, the EU yesterday continued to coordinate the actions of its member states to evacuate the approximately 3,800 EU citizens still stranded in Libya.
All the evacuation efforts by member states will be financed by the EU and it was also agreed to release €3 million in emergency funds to cope with the humanitarian situation arising from the Libyan uprising.
The Commission said the funding would provide medical and food aid, shelter and basic items like mattresses, blankets and hygiene kits to Libyans and Libyan-based refugees who were crossing into neighbouring countries to flee the violence.
Brussels said European relief aid would also be provided for potential humanitarian needs inside Libya, once the security situation in the country allowed a proper assessment.
The European Parliament also called an emergency meeting of its Civil Liberties Committee for Tuesday to discuss the latest developments and press the Commission to take further action.