ESDP: SECURITY SECTOR REFORM MISSION IN
THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (EUSEC RD CONGO)
Letter from the Chairman to Rt Hon Geoff
Hoon MP, Minister for Europe, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Sub-Committee C considered the above document
at its meeting on 23 March 2007 and decided to clear it from scrutiny.
We strongly support the main aim of the draft
Joint Action, which is to enlarge the sources of finance for the
mission, allow funding of specific projects, and improve co-ordination
with the activities of the Member States. We hope that this will
strengthen the capacity of the EU to support reform and stabilisation
efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The creation of a mechanism for this EU mission
to receive funding from Member States and provide a framework
for their projects to be implemented is certainly desirable, but
we were somewhat concerned that what appears to be a new arrangement
for the financing of civilian ESDP missions had not been more
clearly pointed out in the Government's Explanatory Memorandum.
We would therefore welcome a Government re-assurance that it is
committed to providing the Committee with Explanatory Memorandums
which fully analyse the policy implications of EU documents, with
a clear reference to any arrangements or policies that are new
or represent a departure from established practice.
We have decided not to hold the proposal under
scrutiny on this occasion, but will continue to monitor the situation
with regards to the quality and comprehensiveness of information
provided by the Government in its Explanatory Memorandums.
28 March 2007
Letter from Rt Hon Geoff Hoon MP to the
Chairman
Thank you for your letter of 28 March in response
to my Explanatory Memorandum, dated 12 March, covering the expansion
of the mandate of EUSEC RD Congo, the European Security and Defence
Policy (ESDP) mission working on army reform in the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
You are asked for clarification as to whether
the mechanism for funding civilian ESDP missions has been altered.
The answer is no. Missions will continue to be funded from the
Common Foreign and Security Policy budget, with Member States
covering the costs of any personnel that they second. I believe
the confusion has been caused by paragraph 6 of the Explanatory
Memorandum. This covers the amendment to EUSEC RD Congo's mandate
which allows the Head of Mission to use funding from individual
Member States to pay for specific projects. This clause is entirely
separate from the funding of the mission as a whole, and merely
enables EUSEC RD Congo to co-ordinate bilateral donations and
projects set up at the initiative of individual Member States
which complement the remit of the mission. The ESDP police advisory
mission in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (EUPOL COPPS)
carries out a similar role as part of its mandate. The donor situation
in the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently confused so,
in the Government's view, this is a sensible way to increase impact
and avoid duplication of effort. It would not, however, change
the funding base for ESDP missions or restrict Member States'
ability to act outside the ESDP mission.
I apologise if the wording of the Explanatory
Memorandum was insufficiently clear. I can assure the Committee
that the Government remains committed to ensuring that Explanatory
Memoranda are as clear as possible in setting out the policy implications
of EU documents.
12 April 2007
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