Swedish MEP Dick Erixon (ECR) has questioned the European Commission over a EUR 15 million EU contribution to a fund supporting start-ups in North Africa and the southern Mediterranean, asking how the investment serves EU border control and return objectives. In a written parliamentary question dated 8 June 2026, Erixon challenges the link between the Social Entrepreneurship Fund (SEF) — part of the Pact for the Mediterranean — and the EU's migration priorities.
The SEF is a EUR 80 million fund that includes a EUR 35 million debt facility. Erixon's question zeroes in on three concrete asks: whether the EUR 15 million and any further EU exposure from defaults serve the EU's interest in protecting external borders and securing returns; whether disbursements are conditional on partner countries cooperating on readmission; and whether investing in start-ups is the most effective tool to reduce illegal migration. The fund's launch announcement made no mention of border control, returns or readmission, according to the MEP.
Erixon, a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, is pressing the Commission to justify the spending in light of the EU's migration management goals. The question reflects a broader cleavage between development-oriented migration policy and enforcement-focused approaches, pitting economic incentives for third countries against conditional aid tied to cooperation on returns.
The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks. Its answer will signal whether it views the SEF as a migration management tool or purely a development instrument, and whether it is willing to attach conditions to such funding.