Row over funding of security in Africa

Plans to use money earmarked for development to fund security operations in Africa have exposed a bitter row between the EU’s institutions over how the Union spends money abroad.

Meeting in Brussels on Monday (5 March), foreign ministers agreed to transfer €45 million initially int­en­ded for development projects to the African Union’s (AU) peacekeeping operations, notably in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region.

But member states and the EU institutions are ­divided over whether ­further development funds should be used to fund peacekeeping operations.

The European Commission’s development department, Ireland, Sweden and Luxembourg, had raised questions about using €45m from the European Development Fund (EDF) for the AU’s peacekeeping mission, although they did not block the move. "[The African Union] had absolutely no money left," said one diplomat explaining the decision.

The United Nations had been expected to step in in Darfur, but as Sudan is ­delaying the deployment of the UN force, the AU’s costs have spiralled. However, plans to release €100m more from the EDF are expected to cause further rows. The EU has little money left in its budget for ­foreign and security policy, which could fund the African operations, and some member states are concerned that "raiding" the EDF could set a precedent.

"We fear there may be a temptation in the future not to use all the EDF money, in order to fund operations like this," said one member state diplomat.

Noel Treacy, Ireland’s minister for European affairs, said: "We have put down a marker vis-à-vis any future expenditure [which] would have to be agreed on a very detailed basis."

The EU has already provided €400m for the African Peace Facility, which mostly funded the AU’s mission in Sudan. The EU is soon ­expected to face calls to help fund an AU mission to ­Somalia and is scrambling to find resources.

The Commission has ­ques­tioned the legality of transferring the funds from the EDF to the African Peace Facility. But Council of ­Ministers diplomats said the Commission’s concerns were ­politically motivated.

Plans to use money earmarked for development to fund security operations in Africa have exposed a bitter row between the EU’s institutions over how the Union spends money abroad.

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