Case study: Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)

Abstract

The present Report entitled ‘Case study: Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)’ was written as part of Work Package 10 (WP 10) ‘Human Rights Violations in Conflicts’ of the FP7 project ‘Fostering Human Rights Among European (External and Internal) Policies’ (FRAME).1 This report is aimed at providing an analysis of the the integration of human rights, humanitarian law and democracy/rule of law principles and tools into the European Union (EU) Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), with a focus on the protection of vulnerable groups. The report further assesses the complementarity of CSDP action with other EU external policies embedded in the EU's comprehensive approach to external conflicts and crises. Attention is also given to the cooperation and complementarity of EU action in the area of crisis management, with the relevant security actions of other multilateral actors on various policy levels. The report is divided into seven parts. Chapter I outlines the scope and aim and explains the methodology used to conduct the research. Chapter II provides an overview of all CSDP missions and operations to date and places it within the framework of the EU’s foreign policy and the EU comprehensive approach to external conflicts and crises. Chapter II places particular emphasis on the concept of ‘human security’ as a tool for a comprehensive approach for human rights and security linkages in EU foreign policy. As part of the EU comprehensive responses to crisis and conflict, the study covers the interaction between the EU with other international and regional institutions in the area of crisis management. Chapter III analyses the CSDP legal and policy framework on the protection and respect for human rights and IHL and support to democracy and the rule of law with a focus on the protection of vulnerable groups and gender mainstreaming. Notably, the integration of the human rights and gender component in CSDP has been progressively materialised through the adoption of a set of guidelines on several human rights priority issues, as well as by the setting-up of different mechanisms aiming at strengthening respect for international standards in third countries. Despite all of this progress, the study unveils existing areas for improvement in terms of policy. Chapter IV covers the integration of human rights and IHL in the CSDP decision-making and planning phases by providing a detailed analysis of the role of key actors and bodies involved. The protection of human rights should play a strategic role in this decision-making, whether as triggers for initiating or for discontinuing EU action. Once the Council decides to establish a CSDP mission or operation, the planning bodies play a key role in the effective operationalisation of the protection of human rights and the principles of democracy and the rule of law as part of the mandate (objectives and tasks), and in the prevention of human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law at the implementation stage. Chapter V evaluates how human rights, IHL and support to democracy and the rule of law are to be integrated in the different types of mandate of CSDP, although each mission or operation has its own particularities that should be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Chapter V also covers the responsibility of the EU and its member states in the conduct of operations, and the difficulties that the procurement of services from Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) poses in this regard. Chapter V reflects on the possible ways of enduring accountability, particularly in the event of wrongful acts committed by mission personnel. Chapter VI includes three case studies, namely: EUTM Mali and EUCAP Niger in the framework of the EU Strategy for Security and Development in the Sahel and the military EUNAVFOR MED, renamed Operation Sophia as one component of the comprehensive approach towards both the refugee crisis and restoring stability in Libya. These case studies serve to examine issues such as the coherence and complementarity of the various policies and instruments of the EU in the framework of a comprehensive approach, the limits to the use of force and the applicability of IHL and the protection vulnerable groups in the course of operations. The report concludes in Chapter VII with a summary of the main findings that serve to provide an understanding of the importance and the need to respect and integrate human rights, humanitarian law and democracy/rule of law principles and tools into the CSDP. The EU is strongly committed to promote and protect human rights and to support democracy worldwide but in the area of crisis management it also determines the success of the mission or operation and its long-lasting results. Overall, the report provides a broad foundation for the next stage of research in WP10, which will consist of the formulation of policy recommendations on how to foster coherence and efficiency of EU external policy related to all phases of crisis and conflict, in order to prevent and overcome violence through the integration of human rights, humanitarian law and democracy/rule of law principles, and meet the challenges of protecting and promoting human rights in EU external policies.