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EUPM mission in Bosnia: three lessons for CSDP (Eva Gross)

(BRUSSELS2) After lessons from Stefan Feller, head of the EU police mission (EUPM/EUPM) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is the turn of Eva Gross, researcher at the VUB's Institute for European Studies, one of the specialists in the European foreign and security policy of the Vrije Universitet Brussel (Flemish Free University of Brussels), to take advantage of the ten-year experience of the EUPM mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the researcher, who was speaking at a meeting of the EPC, the European Policy Center, in Brussels, we can retain three main “lessons”.

1st lesson: coordination with the services of the Commission, the special representative in the chain of command

First of all, Eva Gross believes that the link between Brussels and the actors on the ground must be strengthened. Right from the planning stage, the mission concept must take local needs into account more fully. We must rely on stronger coordination with the other EU services, in particular those of the Commission. The EUPM mission had difficulties, at least in the beginning, but the creation of the European diplomatic service constitutes a good path for improvement. Furthermore, the link between Brussels, the national capitals and the field must be improved. The role of the Special Representative must be clarified and reinforced with regard to European defense missions: he must be part of the chain of command.

2nd lesson: coordination on the ground, between the different EU missions but also with other international actors

The context of Bosnia and Herzegovina is quite specific since it combines a civilian mission (EUPM) and a military mission (EUFOR Althea). These two missions were planned separately, which generates duplication of mandates that are reflected in the field. Both missions fought organized crime. If this type of duplication can be avoided in the field by good personal coordination, it would be easier to think about it from the planning stage, thanks to a more coherent approach. In addition, better coordination with international actors is necessary, in particular with the UN, NATO or the OSCE, again from the preparation stage.

3rd lesson: The impact of CSDP missions in the host country

Measuring the impact of a mission is difficult: the introduction of reference points often only makes it possible to apprehend the quantitative results, while the qualitative results are to be analyzed over the longer term, within a framework that in fact goes beyond that of European defense missions. This reflects the truly political nature (construction of the rule of law), in addition to operational objectives. We must also be careful to target who we support in such missions. Most of the time, official elites (government, police, justice, army) are targeted, but in contexts marked by corruption and human rights violations, there is a risk of being associated with these problems and to be accused of complicity, or even to legitimize certain actors " unsavory ". It is therefore necessary to pay particular attention to these questions, and to go further than the simple integration of a Gender/Human Rights expert in the missions. One of the avenues to be explored is to involve local citizens more through the contacts established by the EU delegations. The question of the visibility of CSDP missions is directly linked to these issues.

B2 Writing

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