9 EU police mission in Macedonia
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14432/05
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| Council Joint Action on the establishment of an EU Police Advisory Team (EUPAT) in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia following the closure of the European Union Police Mission (EUPOL PROXIMA)
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| Legal base | Articles 14, 25(3), 26 and 28(3) EU; unanimity.
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| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 28 June 2006
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 34-x (2005-06), para 18 (16 November 2005)
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared (decision reported on 16 November 2005)
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Background
9.1 EUPOL PROXIMA was launched on 15 December 2003 with a 12 month
mandate. Its job was to follow on from the EU's 2001 military
mission, "Concordia", which helped to pave the way for
the Ohrid Agreement, which formally ended the ethnic conflict
between the 3 million-strong country's Macedonian majority (60+%)
and Albanian minority (c. 25%).
9.2 When the then Committee cleared an extension
of the Joint Action on 10 November 2004, it agreed with the then
Minister that, with the situation in Macedonia plainly not yet
sufficiently stable for the EU to contemplate ending this mission,
only a year after it began, there was a clear need for continued
mentoring, monitoring and advising in the policing sector; but
it also endorsed his intention that the EU should not follow a
policy of automatically extending police missions beyond their
original mandate. It therefore hoped to see, in a year's time,
a proper assessment of the extent to which measurable outcomes,
consistent with stated objectives, had been achieved, and to see
this informing any proposal for a further extension.
9.3 Last November, we considered a Council Joint
Action on the establishment of an EU Police Advisory Team (EUPAT).
In addition to improvement in the performance of the Macedonian
police, the political situation had also improved considerably
since 2001. Stability had returned; the legislative aspects of
the Ohrid Framework Agreement were completed in July; and the
country was gradually moving out of the post-conflict period.
The entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement
and the Commission's 9 November 2005 recommendation that Macedonia
be made an EU candidate country reflected this progress. But the
security situation, though significantly improved, remained fragile.
The Macedonian authorities recognised the importance of the rule
of law for the country to stabilise, attract investment and ultimately
join the EU. The progress achieved by PROXIMA in the crucial area
of policing needed to be consolidated.
9.4 Under the guidance of the EU Special Representative
(EUSR) to Macedonia and in partnership with the host Government
authorities, a small EU Police Assistance Team (EUPAT) would ensure
that there was no gap in assistance for 6 months between the end
of PROXIMA in December 2005 and the commencement of a Community
project focusing on the implementation of reform at field level
and capacity building within the Interior Ministry. EUPAT would
monitor and mentor the country's police on priority issues in
Border Police, Public Peace and Order and Accountability, and
the fight against Corruption and Organised Crime, focussing in
particular on middle and senior management; overall implementation
of police reform at field level; police-judiciary co-operation;
and professional standards/internal control.
9.5 We were gratified to see that our predecessors'
hopes — measurable outcomes, consistent with stated objectives
and contributing to very welcome improvements — had been
fulfilled and to see them informing a successor arrangement that
seemed to be both necessary and proportionate. We accordingly
cleared the document, and (as with EUPOL PROXIMA) asked that,
when EUPAT came to an end, the Minister let us have his assessment
of the extent to which its objectives had been successfully met.
The Minister's letter
9.6 In his 28 June 2006 letter, the Minister for
Europe (Mr Geoffrey Hoon) says that, after what he describes as
the successful completion of the EUPAT mandate, police development
and reform activities have been handed over to a field monitoring
team under the European Commission Community Assistance for Reconstruction,
Development and Stabilisation (CARDS) programme. He confirms that
EUPAT has concentrated on the priority issues identified above
and focussed on monitoring and mentoring middle and senior management.
He say special attention was paid to three key areas.
1. "The Sector for Internal Control and
Professional Standards — an increase in initiative and
proactivity in the launch of investigations and increased confidence
of the public and other organisations in the Sector was noted.
2. "Co-operation between police and other
law enforcement agencies — there are positive indications
that this is increasing, particularly between agencies such as
the Uniformed Police and Crime Investigation Department and Border
Police who have followed the advice given by EUPAT and its predecessor
EUPOL Proxima to hold regular inter-agency co-ordination meetings.
EUPAT further recommends that these inter-agency meetings become
mandatory. Positive progress was also noted by EUPAT's Law Enforcement
Monitors in the Organised Crime Unit of Public Prosecutors which
has performed well when involved in a number of high profile investigations
and prosecutions.
3. "Police comprehensive reform —
Progress in areas such as decentralisation and the restructuring
of the Territorial Police Services was slower than expected, due
to delays in the adoption of the Law on Police. In response to
this EUPAT has produced detailed recommendations on the areas
that will need continued support from the field monitoring team,
particularly that the team maintains a significant presence at
the Ministry of Interior level and takes a two pronged approach
to supporting police in the decentralisation process. High level
commanders need to be mentored and advised on how to relinquish
their powers to the appropriate level and local police will need
support in dealing with the added responsibility as these powers
are delegated. The EUSR's Office has supported and co-ordinated
the transition from EUPAT to the field monitoring team."
9.7 He concludes by saying that, as intended, EUPAT
has bridged the gap in the way intended and given the CARDS field
monitoring team a valuable head start by providing a comprehensive
dossier in order to facilitate knowledge transfer between the
two teams.
Conclusion
9.8 We are grateful to the Minister for this
further information, which we are reporting to the House as a
notable example of a properly-focussed, managed and assessed ESDP
crisis management operation. There is plainly still work to be
done, but this can now properly be carried out with the framework
of normal EC technical assistance.
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