Documents considered by the Committee on 14 October 2009, including the following recommendations for debate: Security of gas supply, Financial management - European Scrutiny Committee Contents


24  EU AND GEORGIA: EU SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE AND THE INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL FACT-FINDING MISSION ON THE CONFLICT

(a)
(30755)



(b)
(30756)


Council Joint Action extending the mandate of the European Union's Special Representatives for the crisis in Georgia



Council Decision amending and extending Council Decision 2008/901/CFSP concerning the independent international fact-finding mission on the conflict in Georgia


Legal base(a) Articles 14, 18(5) and 23(2) EU; QMV
(b) Articles 13(3) and 23(1) EU; QMV
DepartmentForeign and Commonwealth Office
Basis of consideration Minister's letter of 17 August 2009
Previous Committee Report HC 19-xxiv (2008-09), chapter 10 (15 July 2009)
Discussed in Council27 July 2009 General Affairs and External Relations Council
Committee's assessmentPolitically important
Committee's decisionCleared (decision reported on 15 July 2009) further information now provided

Background

24.1 The background is set out in our previous report, where we considered a separate draft Joint Action extending the mandate of the EU civilian ESDP monitoring mission, EUMM Georgia, which was set up in the aftermath of the conflict that erupted in Georgia in August 2008.[96]

Joint Action 2008/760/CFSP

24.2 Against this background, this Joint Action established a Special Representative for the Crisis in Georgia, in September 2008, to ensure coordination and consistency of external EU actions in the region. The mandate for the EUSR for the Crisis in Georgia is renewable every six months, rather than the standard 12, to reflect the exceptional circumstances in Georgia. The incumbent, Ambassador Pierre Morel, already held, and still holds, a concurrent mandate as EUSR for Central Asia.

24.3 The EUSR's mandate is based on the objectives established by the conclusions of the extraordinary European Council meeting in Brussels on 1 September 2008 and the Council conclusions of 15 September on Georgia. The EUSR's role is to enhance the effectiveness and visibility of the EU in helping to resolve the conflict in Georgia. We cleared the last extension on 15 July.[97]

Council Decision 2008/901/CFSP

24.4 The mandate of the Independent International Fact Finding Mission on the conflict in Georgia is defined by the Council's Decision of 2 December 2008 (2008/901/CFSP). The aim of the fact-finding mission is to investigate the origins and the course of the conflict in Georgia, including with regard to international law, humanitarian law and human rights, and the accusations made in that context. The geographical scope and time span of the investigation were made sufficiently broad to determine all the possible causes of the conflict.

24.5 Also on 2 December 2008, the EU appointed Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini, who served as the UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Georgia from 2002 to 2006, to head the Mission.

24.6 At the time of the Mission's establishment, the then Minister said that the budget to 31 July 2009 would be €1.6 million (then £1.2 million), which would be met from the CFSP budget, to which the UK currently contributes approximately 17%.

24.7 The Council Decision that we cleared on 15 July extended the duration of the Mission for a further two months until 30 September 2009. In her accompanying Explanatory Memorandum of 8 July 2008, the (then) Minister for Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead) recalled that the Government welcomed the establishment of the Mission, and had offered its full support to Ambassador Tagliavini and her team. The Government believed that "the Mission's final report will provide useful clarity on the origins of the conflict and the attitudes of the respective parties to international law during the conflict" and "agrees with the no-cost extension of the Mission in order that it can have sufficient time to prepare its report, considering all the evidence available to it."

Our assessment

24.8 Although the extension of these mandates raised no questions per se, we felt that the House would have benefited, not from a rehearsal, twice over, of a well-known analysis of the events of last summer, but from an assessment of where matters presently stood on the Geneva process that went beyond noting that it "continues to face difficulties".

24.9 We accordingly asked the Minister to write to us with such an assessment and to outline how she saw matters developing between July and September, and particularly her expectations as to how fully the Mission was likely to be able to fulfil the extensive mandate given to it last December (c.f. paragraph 24.4 above).

The Minister's letter of 17 August 2009

24.10 The Minister begins her letter by reporting on the current state of the Geneva talks process in relation to the extension of EU Special Representative Morel's mandate as follows:

    "The latest round of talks took place on 1 July and secured one significant development — the establishment of an Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism for Abkhazia, the first meeting of which took place on 14 July. This is a valuable confidence-building measure that brings together Abkhaz, Georgian and Russian security personnel, and should reduce the risk of conflict. A similar mechanism for South Ossetia was agreed in April.

    "The 1 July talks also produced some small progress on humanitarian issues. We anticipate that there is unlikely to be much progress on the main bones of contention on status and non-use of force agreements in the near future. However, there is agreement for another round of talks in Geneva on 17 September. EUSR Morel and his UN and OSCE co-chairs are playing a significant role in maintaining the momentum of the talks. We continue to support the talks, which remain the only forum to bring all the parties to the conflict together."

24.11 The Minister also outlines how she sees the situation in Georgia up to September, when the mandate for the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission expired:

    "The situation in Georgia is relatively stable, but remains unpredictable.

    "Russia's veto of the continuation of the UN mission has reduced the capacity of the international community to monitor the situation, but the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) remains in place and is performing an important role in defusing tensions along the Administrative Boundary Lines. The potential for further incidents still exists, but we continue to urge maximum restraint in our contacts with the Georgian and Russian governments. We also continue to urge Russia to comply with its obligations under the 12 August and 8 September 2008 agreements, and are pressing for access for EUMM's monitors to the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

24.12 The Minister says that she has "little information on what the findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission will be", and that Ambassador Tagliavini "has rightly taken care to ensure the independence of the report". She continues thus:

    "The Mission has undertaken visits to key locations affected by the conflict, and has interviewed individuals from governments and other organisations that were connected to the conflict. We have been in contact with the Mission's staff and offered them our full support. I am therefore confident that Ambassador Tagliavini and her team will fulfil their mandate and produce a credible, authoritative report that addresses the origins of the conflict and questions over human rights and international humanitarian law."

Conclusion

24.13 We are grateful to the Minister for this further information, which we are reporting to the House because of the widespread interest in the subject.

24.14 As the Minister copied her letter to their chairman, we are also forwarding this chapter of our Report to the Defence and Foreign Affairs Committees.



96   See (30749) - HC19-xxiv (2008-09), chapter 9 (15 July 2009). Back

97   See headnote: (30755) -: HC19-xxiv (2008-09), chapter 10 (15 July 2009) Back


 
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