CSDP Police Missions: Comparing Bottom-up and Top-down Approaches

Abstract:

Insufficient rule of law is a major cause of instability in Europe's near abroad. Europe, home to some of the world's best national police forces, should be an effective advisor on police reform in the continent's periphery and beyond. The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) police missions to date, however, have produced underwhelming results. These missions have largely followed a 'top-down' approach, co-locating senior EU police officials with their counterparts at national institutions. In contrast to current EU policy, the literature on police reform in post-conflict societies argues for a 'bottom-up' approach, in which trainers and advisors co-locate at regional and local levels and foster trust-building and civilian oversight. While the EU may find bottom-up missions difficult to conduct, such missions would better contribute to lasting security sector reform in host countries than top-down operations. Revising unsuccessful policies and achieving demonstrable results is especially important in the context of mounting doubt over the value of CSDP.