Europeans paid limited attention to Libya and focused on security issues. They had little impact on the transition.
Libya was not at the top of the agenda for most European policymakers except those in Italy and, to a lesser extent, other Mediterranean countries. While Europeans were relatively united, they focused narrowly on the security situation, which remained a significant challenge and, if anything, grew during the year. Europeans aimed to help the central government build army and police forces to thwart the militias and building capabilities to control borders. Meanwhile, little was done on the political side of the transition. The division of labour with the UN mission left out the EU on most of the important dossiers such as constitution formation or national dialogue.
The European Council and the prime ministers of Italy, France, Germany, and the UK expressed support for Prime Minister Ali Zeidan. These EU member states, along with Turkey and the US, participated in a training mission for 15,000 new Libyan soldiers, which, after being approved at the G8 in Northern Ireland in the summer of 2013, kicked off only in the autumn of 2013. This is one of the two main EU projects in Libya, along with the €30 million spent for the EUBAM mission for capacity building in border control, which started in May and will take time to yield results. Minor socio-economic funding was also approved, including €10 million programme to set up support services for small and medium-sized firms seeking to expand (though part of these funds will be spent on technical expertise for a new framework EU–Libya agreement) and €5 million to bring treatment of detainees in line with international standards.
In the absence of action on the political context (national dialogue, transitional justice, inclusiveness, and rule of law), these measures have for the moment yielded few results. The situation in the country has deteriorated to the point where militias have ultimately jeopardised energy supplies to Europe.
