The article examines the decision of the ECJ, contextualising it within a systemic policy adopted by EU Member States – and in particular Italy – to curb migration flows in the Mediterranean. It explains that the ECJ introduced a distinction between occasional and systematic SAR activities, although the legal instruments employed by the Court in its decision do not contain such a distinction. Finally, it argues that the absence of an international and European legal framework on privatized SAR operations is causing substantial uncertainties and legal dilemmas and should be redressed by EU Member States through a new agreement aimed at filling the legal lacuna.