| Author (Person) | Bower, Helen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 22.7.03 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 22/07/2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The EU is to examine the possibility of setting up a peace support operation facility in Africa, which would aim to strengthen African capacities in peacekeeping rather than the EU just providing its own forces in the continent. The decision, taken by the Member States' foreign ministers at a meeting of the External Relations Council in Brussels on 21 July 2003, follows a call from the Heads of State of the African Union at a summit in Maputo on 12 July 2003 for help in developing Africa's own peacekeeping forces to manage what is frequently a volatile region. The African Union was established in 1999 as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity, Recently, the AU Member States have been working towards implementing an African Peace and Security Agenda, in particular ensuring a swift ratification of the Protocol on the establishment of the African Peace and Security Council and an effective operation of the African Stand-by Force. In addition, several African countries have recently committed their own forces to participate in peacekeeping operations in various conflicts (DRC, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Liberia, etc.) in coordination with the United Nations. However, despite these efforts by the AU, there is a common understanding that the flows of development aid from Europe to Africa often do not go to the intended projects because of wars, instability or insecurity. As one senior diplomat told the Financial Times,
Each year the European Commission spends €1.8 billion of its budget on aid and development projects in AU countries, in addition to €5.4 billion spent by the EU's Member States. The new plan to set up a Peace Support Operation Facility (PSOF) to fund peacekeeping forces under the authority of the African Union would be jointly funded by the European Commission and the AU's Member States. Each country receiving aid from the European Commission's €1.8bn outlay would siphon off 1.5 per cent of what it received to the PSOF with possible additional funding coming from the European Development Fund. The African Union have suggested that the PSOF should be based on the principle of solidarity among African countries and that the modalities and functioning of the facility, which should be sustainable and replenished whenever necessary, should be worked out by the European Commission and the AU Commission. The European Commission will now, at the request of the Council, draw up concrete proposals on how the PSOF should be established. The increasing co-operation between the EU and the African Union and the possibility of the PSOF reflects the commitment of the EU to the region and builds upon the EU's military operation Artemis to stabilise the situation in Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Helen Bower Compiled: Tuesday, 22 July 2003 The EU is to consider assisting countries from the African Union to establish peacekeeping forces under African leadership. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations, Security and Defence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Countries / Regions | Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
