62 CFSP: EU support for security sector
reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision | Cleared from scrutiny
|
| Document details | Council Decision on the EU Mission to provide advice and assistance for security sector reform in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (EUSEC RD Congo[ 456])
|
| Legal base | Articles 28, 42(4) and 43(2) TEU; unanimity
|
| Department
Document number
| Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(36824), —
|
Summary and Committee's conclusions
62.1 Following elections in the DRC in 2006, the Council agreed
on 12 June 2007 to:
— establish
a police mission leading on Security Sector Reform and its justice
interface in the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC in French;
thus EUPOL RDC); and
— via a new and revised mandate, continue
to build on the progress made during the previous two years on
supporting the integration of the different armed factions in
the DRC, and thus assisting Congolese efforts to reconstruct a
properly-functioning army (EUSEC RDC).
62.2 A strategic review in 2012 concluded that the
Security Sector Reform process could no longer be best delivered
by means of CSDP missions and recommended moving towards a more
long term approach, where the EU's contribution would be delivered
via bilateral programmes and under the European Development Fund
(EDF). It was accordingly agreed that both missions would be closed
in September 2014. In both cases, the Minister for Europe (Mr
David Lidington) said that the challenge would be to ensure that
progress was sustained after closure in 12 months' time.[ 457]
62.3 However, in June 2014, the Minister provided
a compelling explanation of why EUSEC RDC should be extended until
June 2015, followed by a "mini-mission" until June 2016
(see "Background" below).
62.4 This further draft Council decision amends and
extends the EUSEC RD Congo mission accordingly. The current mandate
expires on 30 June 2015. The proposed mandate will amend the size
and scope of the mission, and extend it to 30 June 2016, by initiating
a "mini-mission" that will run until then. Mission activities
will be funded by the existing budget of €2,700,000, which
will cover the period 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016, and also allow
for a follow-on liquidation period 1 July 2016 to 30 September
2016.
62.5 The mission will:
— continue
with the implementation and monitoring of the reform of the FARDC
(the DRC Armed Forces) by maintaining strategic advice, including
at the General Inspectorate, taking into account human rights
and gender mainstreaming, whilst ensuring close coordination with
the relevant actors for the transition process and hand-over of
tasks; and
— work with the military authorities towards
sustainability of the military education system, focusing on schools
for officers and non-commissioned officers, whilst preparing for
the transition process and handover of tasks where appropriate.
62.6 We clear the Council Decision, and do not
take issue with the over-ride of scrutiny on this occasion in
view of the need for the mission to continue this transition process
from 1 July 2015 and the absence of a Committee at that time.
62.7 As well as providing further detail on this
Council Decision, the "Background" section below also
recalls our predecessors' sustained interest in the absence of
any effective evaluation of these missions over many years of
activity. We note that our predecessors were promised a final
report on EUPOL DRC. We should be pleased to receive it forthwith,
together with the Minister's views on: the cost-effectiveness
of the expenditure on supporting police restructuring over the
years; the quality of the report; the wider lessons that the report
identifies and the steps taken to incorporate them into mission
planning, control and evaluation; and what work is now to be done
and by whom in this area in the years ahead.
62.8 The Minister notes that, despite the progress
made on the SSR agenda to date, and EUSEC's successes, much remains
to be done before the DRC has a security sector that responds
to the needs of its citizens and fully respects human rights.
Much the same could be said about this mission's many counterparts
elsewhere, both civilian and military, over the years. With this
in mind, we note that the very substantial CSDP Conclusions adopted
by the 18 May 2015 Foreign Affairs Council[ 458]
included the following at paragraph 15:
"In line with the EU's Comprehensive Approach
and in order to maximize the impact, efficiency and consistency
of EU support, the Council invites the High Representative and
the Commission to develop, in consultation with the Member States,
an EU-wide strategic framework for Security Sector Reform by mid-2016.
This policy concept should bring together CSDP and all other relevant
CFSP tools as well as development co-operation instruments and
Freedom, Security and Justice actors, while respecting their respective
legal bases, primary objectives and decision making procedures."
62.9 We should also be grateful if the Minister
would therefore also explain to us what the framework is that
the Council has in mind and — given the centrality of Security
Sector Reform in the EU's CFSP and the importance of ensuring
Member State control thereof, and thus of proper parliamentary
scrutiny — outline how he envisages proper parliamentary
scrutiny of what would appear to be a key policy document being
taken forward.
Full
details of the documents:
Council Decision amending and extending Council Decision 2010/565/CFSP
on the European Union Mission to provide advice and assistance
for security sector reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(EUSEC RD Congo): (36824),—.
Background
62.10 Our predecessors' 2012 Report recalls and summarises
(and the other Reports referred to therein detail) their and their
predecessors' intensive scrutiny of these long-running missions,
endeavouring to do vital work in a deeply-troubled and strategically
important country in the face of great difficulties, but struggling
to demonstrate ways in which the considerable expenditure involved
thus far has been effective.[ 459]
62.11 EUSEC DRC aims to assist the DRC authorities
to set up a defence apparatus capable of guaranteeing the security
of the Congolese people, while respecting democratic standards,
human rights and the rule of law, as well as the principles of
good governance and transparency. The mission is tasked to work
in close cooperation and coordination with other actors in the
international community, in particular the United Nations and
its Stabilization Mission in the DRC — MONUSCO — to
promote security sector reform.
62.12 The key objectives of EUPOL are: to support
the Congolese National Police (PNC) and the Ministry of Interior
and Security in the implementation of police reform; enhance the
operational capacity of the PNC, through mentoring, monitoring,
advising and training; and support the fight against impunity
in the fields of human rights and sexual violence.
62.13 The then Committee noted that, by the time
they had been completed, these missions would have been running,
in one form or another, for between six and eight years, and cost
over $50 million. They had struggled for most of their existence:
only in the past three years had they begun to show even the sort
of limited results that the Minister had now provided. Even so,
much of what the Minister reported was in the form of activity
analysis, rather than an assessment of what the difference these
years of EU assistance had made to the security and human rights
of DRC's citizens vis à vis the security forces
to whom it had been provided
62.14 The then Committee also noted that the complexity
of the fragile state environment in the DRC was widespread; once
the missions had been closed, a thorough assessment of the effectiveness
of EU assistance was therefore needed, so as to identify the outcomes,
and what worked and what did not; and thus the lessons that needed
to be applied to existing and future missions in the many conflict-affected
and post-conflict countries where the multi-actor approach was
now the norm. This was too valuable a case study for this not
to happen. The then Committee therefore asked the Minister to
report in a year's time, with information on:
· the
results of the last year's work of each mission;
· what
subsequent assistance was being planned (by whom, over how long,
costing how much, etc.); and
· what
the position was then regarding the sort of assessment that we
regarded as essential.
62.15 The Minister subsequently explained (in a letter
of 2 June 2014) that, since the closure decisions were made, significant
developments on the ground had led to a review of this decision
— particularly the sustained high levels of conflict in
eastern DRC, which had brought renewed international attention
and a range of initiatives that provided an important opportunity
to address the complex cycles of conflict there. Efforts to stabilise
the eastern part of the country required (he said) a reformed
army, police and justice sector that could provide effective security
across the whole of the country.
62.16 EUPOL would close as originally planned in
September 2014 and work requiring further support was in the process
of being handed over to other development actors, including a
police reform programme managed by DFID (the Department for International
Development) and a policing component within a wider SSR support
programme run by the European Development Fund (EDF).
62.17 But plans for continued work on defence reform
were more complex: the Commission would run a military reform
programme within the EDF programme for the period 2015-20, costing
€50 million from the middle of 2015; the EEAS had therefore
proposed, and the Minister supported, a final nine month extension
of EUSEC's work from September 2014 to June 2015 to cover the
gap; EUSEC, as it now stood, would then close.
62.18 The Minister also identified two areas of work
that the Commission could not fund, as they fell outside of ODA
definitions: strategic advice on reform; and support to military
schools. A further two years of CSDP work would establish a realistic
prospect of full hand over to the Congolese of the re-opened military
academy for officers, which was building the leadership of the
future with support on recruitment curriculum formation (with
Belgium), recruitment of teachers, English language (with UK)
and the exams/graduation process. The EU's plan now, which the
Minister supported, was that "a very small CSDP mission should
continue to operate from mid-2015 to mid-2016 to fill the gap".
Initial estimates were that the mission would require 7-10 staff
and cost approximately €1.3 million per year. As planning
for this "micro-mission" emerged, the Minister said,
his would "closely scrutinise it for essential work only
and an appropriate budget which should not go higher than this
estimation", and would encourage the optimisation of synergies
and burden sharing between the small CSDP mission and the larger
Commission programme.
62.19 The Minister's letter included some evidence
of EUSEC DRC's achievements, which he summed up thus: "As
a result of the gains that have been made in recent years, the
DRC now has a body resembling an army".[ 460]
62.20 The then Committee concluded that his explanation
and justification of what was now proposed — especially
the unclassified summary of the key discussion paper on security
sector development in the DRC that he enclosed with his letter
(the Conclusion and 5-Year Objectives section are reproduced in
their most recent Report[ 461])
— made a compelling case for the further EUSEC RDC extension
and the proposed short-term successor "micro-mission".
62.21 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 27 August
2014, on the most recent Council Decision, the Minister confirmed
that EUPOL RDC would close on 30 September 2014 and a final report
on this mission will follow in due course.
62.22 EUSEC RDC, however, remained "an integral
part of international, EU and UK efforts to support the strengthening
of peace and security in the Great Lakes region".
62.23 He continued his comments thus:
"The overall objective of the EU's, and indeed
the UK's own national, comprehensive engagement in support of
SSR in the DRC is support for reform of the Congolese security
sector, ensuring that it operates efficiently under democratic
control and following the principles of the rule of law. EUSEC's
work is also supporting reform of the Congolese armed forces to
ensure they provide greater protection of human rights —
particularly crucial to ensuring delivery of the UK's Preventing
Sexual Violence in Conflict initiative — and greater responsiveness
to the needs of the Congolese people. It is also our objective
to encourage local ownership of the reform programme by the Congolese
authorities, with the eventual aim of encouraging full takeover
and responsibility for delivery in this area.
"SSR is crucial to the security and stabilisation
in the Great Lakes, and this was set out in the report of the
Stabilisation Unit which was shared with the Committees on 2 June.
SSR is a key part of the commitments given by the Government of
the DRC under the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for
the DRC and Great Lakes Region signed in Addis Ababa on 24 February
2013. The SSR activity supported by EUSEC is a key piece in the
jigsaw that is helping to ensure delivery against the commitments
of the PSCF. It also helps ensure UK activity elsewhere —
our own development programmes and support for the UN mission
to the DRC, MONUSCO — are as effective as they can be. It
is helping to ensure that money spent on development programmes
continues to make the necessary difference.
"Over the last 12 months, EUSEC has made real
progress in supporting the authorities in DRC to take more control
of the security sector reform process. While it remains the case
that the current political situation in DRC is marked by an absence
of strategic direction pending the nomination of a new government,
which has been delayed since October 2013, real concrete gains
have been made in terms of security sector reform, as set out
in my letter of 2 June. In order for these gains to be safeguarded
and advanced, it is crucial that the mandate of EUSEC is renewed."
62.24 The Minister then provided a number of further
illustrations of EUSEC's contribution. Looking ahead:
"During the next 9 months, EUSEC will continue
to work on modernising the administration and human resources
of the armed forces, will support the training of new recruits,
and provide strategic advice to the army, both centrally and to
the regions. It will also support preparation for the transition
to the European Development Fund, which will take over for the
next phase of defence reform by June 2015. On strategic advice,
the mission will focus particularly on working on the preparation
of legislation and the work with the Reform Committees, particularly
in Goma. On administration the mission will continue to work to
improve the financing of the Congolese armed forces and improving
the human resources management systems. Work to support the military
academies will include consolidation of technical and conceptual
support, training materials and financing.
"While a lack of DRC engagement was a key factor
limiting the impact EUSEC had from 2005-2013, as I set out in
my letter of 2 June it is much less of a factor now. I am hopeful
that this will continue to remain the case, and while we will,
as ever, continue to keep CSDP commitments under review, I remain
confident that following the 9 month extension period, we will
be in a suitable position to enable transfer of the bulk of the
work of EUSEC to Commission focused engagement, and that the residual
mini-CSDP mission which will remain after the initial 9-month
period will be in a position to have completed hand over of its
work to the Congolese authorities by July 2016."
62.25 With regard to the Financial Implications,
the Minister said that the proposed budget for the final nine
months of the full EUSEC mission would be €4.6 million, reduced
from €8,455,000 for the 12 months to September 2014. He explained
that the draft budget was released on 26 August and had not yet
been discussed in Brussels working groups; given recess dates,
the imminent expiry of the mandate on 30 September and his belief
that it would not change significantly in negotiations, he hoped
that our predecessors would be prepared to clear the Council Decision
on that basis, and undertook to provide the final budget details
once agreed.
The draft Council Decision
62.26 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 29 May 2015,
the Minister for Europe outlines the Financial Implications of
this final mandate extension as follows:
"The CFSP budget funds EUSEC RD Congo. The UK
contributes a proportion to the pre-agreed CFSP budget, not the
individual programmes within it, so this proposal does not present
additional costs to the UK.
"The proposed budget of €2.7m is for the
period 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016. However, an element of the
budget has also been allocated to cover an additional three-month
liquidation period (1 July 2016 to 30 September 2016). The amount
foreseen for this liquidation period is €380,000. In effect,
the proposed budget will therefore cover fifteen months, the first
twelve months of which is devoted to the mandate. The new budget
will follow on from the existing nine-month allocation of €4.6
million which expires on 30 June 2015. This represents a reduction
of €1.9 on spend, and we are satisfied that it represents
good value for money, having sought to bear down on unnecessary
costs where possible. The element of the UK's contribution to
the overall CFSP budget that will be devoted to EUSEC will be
approximately €400,000.
"The proposed budget of the micro-mission is
higher than earlier estimate of €1.3m. It was only after
agreement was reached on the planning documents and mission composition
that the EEAS was able to generate a more accurate estimate. We
judge the proposed budget to be commensurate with the size and
scope of the mission. UK officials will continue to evaluate closely
the impact of EUSEC throughout the course of the mandate to ensure
it remains on track, whilst maintaining value for money
"An overview of the proposed budget is contained
within the table below. For reference, information for the previous
allocation is also included. Figures in brackets denote the element
devoted to the liquidation budget.
| Budget Heading (€)
| Current Budget (€)
1 October 2014 to 30 June 2015
| Proposed Budget (€)
1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016
(liquidation period: 1 July 2016 to 30 September 2016)
|
| Personnel costs | 2,275,609
| 1,617,932 (244,266.88)
|
| Missions | 179,310,00
| 146,820,00 (5,000) |
| Running expenditure |
1,726,376 | 631,410 (115,010)
|
| Capital expenditure |
-46,500 | 10,500
|
| Representation | 10,800
| 14,400 |
| Projects expenditure |
404,000 | 252,800
|
| Contingencies | 50,403,86
| 26,137,70 |
| Total
| 4,600,000
| 2,700,000
|
"Key Subheads
· "Personnel
Costs - (€1,617,932):
o The
budget will fund 24 staff, which is a reduction of 31 on the previous
year. The liquidation team will comprise three international staff
and eight local staff.
· "Missions
Expenditure (€146,820,00):
o "This
expenditure relates to the costs incurred in implementing the
mandate and includes transportation, per diems and accommodation.
Six trips to Europe are planned plus two local flights per month.
· "Running
Costs (€631,410):
o "This
covers a range of costs such as transport, IT, communications,
office accommodation, office supplies, welfare and goods &
services. Compared to the existing budget, the new allocation
will generate savings of savings of €1,096,966.
· "Capital
Expenditure (€10,500)
o "Proposed
spend is for communications and office equipment.
· "Projects
(€252,800)
o "The
mission will continue to support projects as it heads towards
transition. Proposed spend is down by €151,200 compared to
the existing budget."
The Government's view
62.27 The Minister recalls the background (originally
launched in 2006; an integral part of international, EU and UK
efforts to support the strengthening of peace and security in
the Great Lakes; originally due to close in September 2014, but
subsequent sustained high levels of conflict in November 2012
bringing renewed attention and increasing the international community's
resolve to bring greater security and stability to the Great Lakes),
the Minister comments as follows:
"The overall objective of the EU's comprehensive
SSR engagement is to ensure the Congolese security sector operates
efficiently under democratic control and follows the principles
of the rule of law. EUSEC's work is also supporting reform of
the Congolese armed forces to ensure they provide greater protection
of human rights - particularly crucial to ensuring continued delivery
of the UK's Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict initiative
- and greater responsiveness to the needs of the Congolese people.
"As set out in the Stabilisation Unit report,
which was shared with the Committees on 2 June 2014, SSR is crucial
to the security and stabilisation in the Great Lakes. SSR is a
key part of the commitments given by the DRC Government under
the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and
Great Lakes Region signed in Addis Ababa on 24 February 2013.
The SSR activity supported by EUSEC helps deliver these commitments.
It also helps ensure UK activity elsewhere — our own development
programmes and support for the UN mission to the DRC, MONUSCO
— are as effective as they can be.
"Despite the progress made on the SSR agenda
to date, and EUSEC's successes, much remains to be done before
the DRC has a security sector that responds to the needs of its
citizens and fully respects human rights. Recent attacks in Beni
territory in eastern DRC — in which it has been alleged
that rogue elements of the FARDC may have played a part —
and the current lack of strategic planning and cooperation between
the FARDC and MONUSCO highlight the importance of EUSEC's work."
62.28 Turning to the Mission's activities,
the Minister says:
"The majority of activities undertaken by the
current mission will be transferred to European Development Fund
support from 1 July 2015, which will ensure defence reform is
continued on a longer term basis. EUSEC's purpose will be to carry
out the small number of residual activities which cannot be carried
out under any other European mechanism. It will prepare for the
transition and handover of these tasks to other actors and the
Congolese authorities as appropriate. EUSEC DRC will:
(a) "Provide strategic advice to the Congolese
Ministry of Defence and other agencies working on reform of the
armed forces; and
(b) "Provide support to the military training
system, focusing on schools for officers and non-commissioned
officers.
"The mission leadership has proposed a staff
of 10 international personnel - down from EUSEC's current 30+.
The mission will be streamlined and will be based in Kinshasa
with personnel deployed in Kananga at the Military Academy and
in Kitona at the Military school for Non-Commissioned Officers.
The detachment in Goma (where the UK has seconded the head of
office since 2010) will close on 30 June 2015. Whilst we were
initially keen to see the Goma office remain open to support efforts
to monitor and hand over existing projects in the east of the
country, we are confident that this can be achieved by mission
personnel visiting from the capital, and did not want to extend
the cost of the mission."
Previous
Committee Reports
None, but see (35273), — and (35274),
—: Fifth Report HC 219-v (2014-15), chapter 12 (2 July 2014).
456 The operating language is French; thus the official
titles in EU documentation. Back
457 See Thirteenth Report HC 83-xiii (2013-14), chapter 51 (4 September
2013). Back
458 See CSDP Council Conclusions. Back
459 See Twelfth Report HC 86-xii (2012-13), chapter 17 (12 September
2012). Back
460 For full details of the Minister's letter, see (35273), - and
(35274), -: Fifth Report HC 219-v (2014-15), chapter 12 (2 July
2014). Back
461 See (35273), - and (35274), -: Fifth Report HC 219-v (2014-15),
chapter 12 (2 July 2014). Back
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