Moritz Brake and Sebastian Bruns Towards a Standing European Union Auxiliary Navy »Diplomacy cannot succeed unless it is backed by action«, 1 re­marked Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Af­fairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission when he inaugurated the EU’s naval mission»Ir­ini«, designed to support efforts to contain the ongoing vio­lence in Libya. To enforce the United Nations weapons embar­go against the war-torn North African country, EU Member States plan to assign ships and aircraft to this common effort. Once again, European governments rely on warships and mar­itime power to counter a security challenge. As with»EU NAV­FOR Sophia«(2015–2020) or the on-going»EU NAVFOR Ata­lanta«(since 2008), ships are readily deployable to the scene on relatively short notice. They are also versatile in dealing with a range of tasks, from enforcing international law and handling complex security threats to providing competent and reliable humanitarian assistance. Through making a real differ­ence on the ground, not least to the over 50,000 migrants whose lives have been saved by European warships in the Mediterranean over the past five years, this is a good example of the us of naval capabilities in EU foreign policy; the indis­pensable political solution and the challenges associated with consensus among member states migration operations not­withstanding. It is no surprise that the European Union depends on the sea for its security and prosperity as over 70 % of its borders are 1 Borrell, Josep, https://twitter.com/josepborrellf/status/­1245019450157469696, 31.3.2020 maritime, 90 % of its external commerce and world trade pass over the ocean, 50 % of EU population and 50 % of EU GDP is situated in regions close to the sea. 2 It is essentially the world’s largest peninsula. In addition to maritime security in its adja­cent seas, the use of the world ocean as a global commons for commercial, diplomatic and peaceful purposes is vital to Eu­rope. The security of the trans-Atlantic link for military logistics within NATO is of utmost strategic importance too. During the summer of 2019, the EU began formalizing maritime strands into a concept for coordinated maritime presence from the Gulf of Guinea to the Strait of Hormuz, including all of Eu­rope’s major adjacent seas. 3 In addition to this, possession of sufficiently numerous, versa­tile, and deployable maritime and naval capabilities allows for rapid reaction to trans-regional challenges. The EU’s naval ves­sels are not just the ›first line of defence‹ overseas, a hard pow­er tool, when it comes to European values and interests. They are also visible and respected representatives of European pres­ence, concern, and commitment – a soft power tool. In this, providing good order at sea and fostering stability ashore, up­2 European Commission, European Union Maritime Security Strategy. Responding together to global challenges. A Guide for Stakeholders, Brussels 2014, 2. 3 Hans-Uwe Mergener,»Informelles EU-Verteidigungsministertreffen: Einigung auf ein Konzept der koordinierten maritimen Präsenz«, ES&T September 3, 2019, https://esut.de/2019/09/meldungen/ international/15226/informelles-eu-verteidigungsministertreffen­einigung-auf-ein-konzept-der-koordinierten-maritimen-praesenz/