14 EU Special Representative in Afghanistan
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| Council Joint Action 2009/135/CFSP extending the mandate of the European Union Special Representative in Afghanistan to include Pakistan.
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| Legal base | Articles 14, 18.5, and 23.2; QMV
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| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 3 June 2009
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| Previous Committee Report | None; but see (30379) — HC 19-vi (2008-09), chapter 14 (4 February 2009)
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| To be discussed in Council | 15 June 2009 General Affairs and External Relations Council
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared, but further information requested
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Background
14.1 EU Special Representatives (EUSRs) are appointed to represent
Common Foreign and Security Policy where the Council agrees that
an additional EU presence on the ground is needed to deliver the
political objectives of the Union. They were established under
Article 18 of the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty and are appointed by the
Council. The aim of the EUSRs is to represent the EU in troubled
regions and countries and to play an active part in promoting
the interests and the policies of the EU.
14.2 An EUSR is appointed by Council through the
legal act of a Joint Action. The substance of his or her mandate
depends on the political context of the deployment. Some provide,
inter alia, a political backing to an ESDP operation, others
focus on carrying out or contribute to developing an EU policy.
All EUSRs carry out their duties under the authority and operational
direction of the High Representative (Javier Solana). Each is
financed out of the CFSP budget implemented by the Commission.
Member States also contribute directly, e.g. via secondment to
the EUSR's staff.
14.3 The EUSRs currently in office cover the following
regions: Afghanistan, the African Great Lakes Region, the African
Union, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central Asia, Kosovo, the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Middle East, Moldova, Sudan,
the South Caucasus and, most recently, the Crisis in Georgia.
Some EUSRs are resident in their country or region of activity,
while others work on a travelling basis from Brussels.[56]
14.4 On 6 February 2009, we cleared Joint Actions
extending the mandate, for a further 12 months, of several of
the EUSRs, including the EUSR for Afghanistan, Mr Ettore Sequi.
His mandate encompasses support to the government of Afghanistan,
in particular in the implementation of the EU-Afghanistan Joint
Declaration, support to the United Nations in Afghanistan, liaison
with regional countries in support of EU policy, supporting the
EU's work on human rights and coordination of EU work in Afghanistan.
In her accompanying Explanatory Memorandum of 27 January 2009,
the then Minister for Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(Caroline Flint) said:
"The European Union and Afghanistan's partnership
is defined by the Strasbourg Declaration of 16 November 2005.
The joint commitments made in this Declaration are kept under
review by periodic meetings between the Afghan government and
the EU.
"The EU (specifically, the European Commission
and member states) is a major donor to Afghanistan, having disbursed
or pledged $7.5bn between 2002 and 2011, including over $5bn of
pledges in support of the Afghan National Development Strategy
at the Paris conference in June 2008.
"EU member states provide approximately 16,000
troops to International Security Assistance Force. The EU launched
its Police Mission to Afghanistan (EUPOL) in June 2007.
"The EU Special Representative will continue
to play an important role in focusing the EU effort, and ensuring
that it dovetails with the work of other bilateral and multilateral
partners. The Afghan government and international partners, particularly
the UN, continue to insist upon the need for greater international
coordination in Afghanistan. In view of the many challenges facing
the country this year, particularly the Presidential elections
and the difficult security situation in the south and east of
the country, the need for effective international engagement is
even greater."[57]
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
14.5 The costs of EU Special Representatives are
met from the CFSP budget, to which the UK currently contributes
approximately 17%. Information provided by the Minister on budget
allocations for 1 March 2009-28 February 2010 for the EUSR to
Afghanistan was:
| Budget Allocation
| Anticipated UK Contribution
| Anticipated UK Contribution
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| €2,850,000[58]
| €484,000 | £453,000
|
The draft Joint Action
14.6 The draft Joint Action that we cleared on 6 February was
adopted on 9 February 2009 as Council Joint Action 2009/135/CFSP.
The proposal is to amend the mandate set out in this Joint Action
to include Pakistan.
The Government's view
14.7 In her Explanatory Memorandum of 3 June 2009, the then Minister
for Europe says that the decision to extend EUSR Sequi's mandate
to include Pakistan "reflects the direction of international
debate on Afghanistan and broader regional challenges, particularly
on Pakistan", and "also chimes with a message that the
UK has been consistently delivering in the EU, that we need to
be better equipped to address the regional dimension of policy
on Afghanistan, particularly Pakistan."
14.8 The Minister continues as follows:
"The UK Government supports the extension of
the mandate to include Pakistan as we have been pushing the EU
to increase its engagement in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and
to see the problems in both countries as interlinked. On 29 April,
the Prime Minister made a statement to the House outlining the
UK's Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy. This was designed to reinforce
and be consistent with the new US strategy, which has similarly
refocused its Afghanistan policy to include Pakistan. This followed
the 22 January appointment of Richard Holbrooke as US Special
Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and subsequent appointments
of various other 'Af/Pak' Special Envoys, all of which highlight
the international communities [sic] focus on the links between
instability in both countries."
14.9 With regard to the Financial Implications, the
Minister says that there are none "beyond costs already born
through the EGC budget (the UK share of the cost of the EUSR for
Afghanistan is 17% of €4.05m)."
Conclusion
14.10 We have no wish to hold up this amendment
to the EUSR to Afghanistan's mandate, and accordingly clear the
document, which we are reporting to the House because of the widespread
interest in the subject matter.
14.11 However, we think that the Minister could
and should have provided more background information. In the statement
to which the Minister refers, the Prime Minister said that the
Government's greatest international counter-terrorisms priority
is "the border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan", which
he described as "the crucible for global terrorism….
the breeding ground for international terrorists [and] the source
of a chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and
Pakistan to the streets of Britain" [59]
But "Af/Pak", so called, is not a concept that is universally
endorsed.
14.12 Moreover, one oft-heard criticism of current
arrangements in Afghanistan is that there are too many external
participants and too little overall direction. It would have been
helpful to have been assured that widening Mr Sequi's mandate
to incorporate Pakistan corresponds to a similar analysis on the
part of both the governments in question, or at least has their
support. We ask that the Minister lets us know.
14.13 The proposed changes to Mr Sequi's mandate
say that his activities in Pakistan and in Afghanistan should
take into account "the EU's comprehensive approach towards
cross-border and wider regional cooperation" and that, "more
specifically, the EUSR shall "contribute to the implementation
of the EU-Pakistan Joint Declaration, as well as the relevant
United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolutions and other relevant
UN Resolutions; and "convey the European Union's
views on the political process in Pakistan, while drawing on key-principles
emerging from the regular contacts between Pakistan and the international
community, most notably in the context of the Group of Friends
of Democratic Pakistan". We should be grateful if the
Minister would also let us know what the essentials are of "the
EU's comprehensive approach towards cross-border and wider regional
cooperation"; of the EU-Pakistan Joint Declaration;
and of the Group of Friends of Democratic Pakistan. The Minister
refers to "appointments of various other 'Af/Pak' Special
Envoys". The impression given is of a somewhat rushed exercise,
designed to ensure that the EU is not left playing "catch-up".
We would like to know if the mandate is to be amended in ways
other than extending the geographical scope and via the references
cited in the preceding paragraph; and to know who the "various
other 'Af/Pak' Special Envoys" are, and how the work of the
EUSR for Afghanistan/Pakistan will relate to theirs.
14.14 We are also confused about the financial
implications, and would be grateful if the Minister would explain
the difference between the figures provided in February and now.
Will the "expanded" EUSR have a presence in Pakistan?
He will presumably need additional staff: where will they be based,
and how will they be funded? Or are there other reasons for the
differences between the two figures?
14.15 In short, we should like to know more of
what extra the EUSR will be doing, how, where and in relation
to whom.
14.16 We also feel bound to say that we are left
with the impression that the new "quality assured" scrutiny
process, in which senior staff would be providing more support
to inexperienced desk officers, about which the Minister has recently
been in correspondence with the Committee, has not got off a good
beginning. We should be grateful for the Minister's comments.
56 See http://consilium.europa.eu/cms3_fo/showPage.asp?id=263&lang=EN
for full information on the EU Special Representatives Back
57
See headnote: (30379) - HC 19-vi (2008-09), chapter 14 (4 February
2009). Back
58 The Minister said that this compare to an overall
budget of €4.05 million (£3.8m) for 2008-9, the bulk
of the savings have been made following Italy's decision to provide
gratis close protection for EUSR Sequi (who, prior to this appointment
, was the Ambassador of Italy in Afghanistan).
Back
59
This statement is available at http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19166.
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