24 EU AND GEORGIA: EU SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE AND THE INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL FACT-FINDING
MISSION ON THE CONFLICT
(a)
(30755)
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(b)
(30756)
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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
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| Legal base | (a) Articles 14, 18(5) and 23(2) EU; QMV
(b) Articles 13(3) and 23(1) EU; QMV
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| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration |
Minister's letter of 17 August 2009 |
| Previous Committee Report |
HC 19-xxiv (2008-09), chapter 10 (15 July 2009)
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| Discussed in Council | 27 July 2009 General Affairs and External Relations Council
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared (decision reported on 15 July 2009) further information now provided
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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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