Public diplomacy, development cooperation or security policy:the EU’s support for conflict prevention and peacebuilding

Andrew Sherriff – Head of European External Affairs Programme - ECDPM

21st of March 2018 - The making of European Security Policy: Challenges for the Future –Simon Duke Tribute Conference – University of Maastricht

Outline

1. EU Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding

2. Public Diplomacy

3. Development Cooperation

4. Security Policy

5. Conclusions

6. Indicative Bibliography

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1. The EU and Conflict Prevention andPeacebuilding

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• The EU self-identifies as a project to promote peace in Europe through economic integrationand democratic reforms. The EU institutions are traditionally seen as a civil and value-driven‘soft power’ with a strong tradition in development [cooperation] and a commitment tomultilateralism. Foreign and security policy are newer elements in the EU integration processand remain largely member state driven. –

• The idea of the EU promoting normative values and principles is of course central to theUnion’s (fuzzy) self-identity. Nevertheless, there is the danger that this will create abifurcated form of diplomacy in Europe with the Member States promoting their first orderinterests (specifically prosperity and security) while the EU pursues an ethical agenda, orsecond-order interests (human rights, democracy promotion, the rule of law, tackling povertyetc) - Simon Duke, 2013 THE EUROPEAN EXTERNAL ACTION SERVICE AND THE QUEST FOR ANEFFECTIVE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY - IPSI Analysis No. 216

• In the absence of any common definition, the EU institutions have had to find their own wayof defining and understanding the term [peacebuilding]. In the EU context, the understandingof peacebuilding is complicated by the more general debate surrounding the nature ofsecurity in the post-cold war era – Simon Duke and Aurelie Courtier, 2009 EU Peacebuilding:Concepts, players and instruments, CLEER WORKING PAPERS 2009/3.

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EU’s identity and conflict prevention and peacebuilding

Conflict prevention and peacebuilding – what mightthe EU trying to achieve and why?

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Primarily based on 2001 European Commission Communication on Conflict Prevention and 2001 EU CouncilGotenburg Programme on Prevention of Violent Conflict

Developed from ADE (with input from ECPDM). 2009 and reproduced by Gourlay, C. 2009

The EU’s 20 year policy development journey in supportof conflict prevention and peacebuilding

6Also available as A3 handout so you can see the detail

2. Public diplomacyand EU conflict prevention and peacebuilding

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“Public diplomacy is about engaging with primarily non-governmental groups and the construction of long-term andsustainable relationships. The EU should therefore continue tomove away from public-diplomacy-as-information modelstowards more sustained dialogues that involve, among otherthings, active listening and engagement of non-governmentalactors.”

Simon Duke, 2013 The European External Action Service andthe Quest for Effective Public Diplomacy. IPSI Analysis No. 216

1. Public diplomacy - a good match for EU conflict preventionand peacebuilding?

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2. Public diplomacy and EU institutions - conflict prevention andpeacebuilding: Some ‘examples’ & contradictions

• Peacebuilding and conflict prevention definitions and ‘best practices’ emphasissimilar understanding of ‘best practice’ in EU public diplomacy (e.g. long-term,sustainable relationships, listening, dialogue, and key engagement of non-stateactors – with also strong values base)

• EU institutions including in post-Lisbon era increasingly developed their outreachand engagement with non-state actors (and professional peacebuilding NGOsand their partners) at ‘global’ and ‘in country’ level – often widely appreciated –money and political backing can be demonstrated

• Yet non-state actors and ‘societies’ have often been critical of being ‘co-opted’ or‘instrumentalised’ to the EU’s [public] diplomacy and have expressed increasingconcerns more recently of ‘securitization’

• EU’s public profile impacts ‘added value’ as an actor in promoting conflictprevention and peacebuilding and significantly impacted by context and leverage(Kosovo not Philippines or Somalia)

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3. Successful EU public diplomacy related to peacebuilding -or something else…

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© Jakarta Post

3. Development cooperation

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2. EU Development cooperation – increasing focus on EUconflict prevention and peacebuilding

• Dates back to formation of the European institutions – the oldest EU ’external’ policy

• Progressively has had elements of conflict prevention and peacebuilding andcommitments to it financially and in policy terms since 1990s (when political spaceopened up at end of the Cold War) – driven by a number of factors

• Conflict prevention and peacebuilding has been looked on somewhat suspiciously bycertain poverty focused professionals/activists from the development community– seenas potential back door to securitsation / promotion of EU self-interest

• Significant and increasing amount of EU institutions development cooperation fundsdevoted to conflict prevention and peacebuilding – rising 403% from 2007-2016.

• Not uncontroversial EU innovations – such as creating African Peace Facility (mainlysupporting African ‘peacekeeping’ in places such as Somalia) being funded out of theEuropean Development Fund - although many peacebuilding professionals would notregard most of this as “peacebuilding” (and most is not counted as OfficialDevelopment Assistance).

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A Global player or payer - EU Institutions 4th biggest spender ofOfficial Development Assistance on conflict prevention and

peacebuilding over the last 10 years

See p. 9 of the report

3. Security Policy

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2. European security policy – some evolutions sinceLisbon Treaty in relation to EU conflict prevention andpeacebuilding

• EU Global Strategy of 2016 – explicitly refers to conflict prevention and peacebuilding ina number of sections (upgrade from European Security Strategy of 2003) as part of“integrated approach”

• European External Action Service – was created with a specific ‘Division’ focusing onConflict Prevention and Peacebuilding (and specific budget lines in the EEAS budget on“Conflict Prevention and Mediation Support Services”) – Division now housed withCFSP “” structures in EEAS

• Recent security policy focus more or PESCO and military cooperation than conflictprevention and peacebuilding - and specific new policy commitments globally relatedto conflict prevention & peacebuilding in Council conclusions or a HRVP/Commissionnew Communication

• Security related concerns increasingly feature in EU’s financial proposals for next EUbudget 2021-2027 including within the proposed merged Neighbourhood,Development, International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) and off-budget ’EuropeanPeace Facility’ 16

3. Conclusions

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Conclusions and “Challenges for the Future”• EU conflict prevention and peacebuilding multidimensional and aspect of public

diplomacy, development cooperation and security policy – progressively developedover last 20 years

• This type of “integrated approach" to violent conflict has been central to EU policycommitments since at least 2001, and often restated ”comprehensive approach”(under HRVP Ashton), “integrated approach” again in EU Global Strategy – yetprogress has been limited – need to confront incentives and disincentives for changehonestly.

• Different EU policy communities (and institutions) in the security, development and[public] diplomacy sphere tend to look and approach conflict prevention andpeacebuilding from ‘their’ perspective – despite commitments to anintegrated/comprehensive approach. How to reconcile these without “throwing thebaby out with the bathwater”?

• The Geopolitical era, European political culture, The EU’s system of governance, andmajor conflicts and instability have had a significant impact on EU support to conflictprevention and peacebuilding in the past and are likely to in the future. Support toEU conflict prevention and peacebuilding does not happen in a vaccum. 18

Indicative Bibliography

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Indictative Bibliography (non exhaustive)

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ADE (with input from ECPDM). 2011. Thematic Evaluation of European Commission Support to Conflict Prevention and Peace-building 2001-2010. Vol. 1-3. Brussels:Evaluation for the European Commission

Council of the European Union, 2018. Council Conclusions on the Integrated Approach to External Conflicts and Crises, 22 January

Duke, S. and Aurelie Courtier, 2009 EU Peacebuilding: Concepts, players and instruments, CLEER Working Papers 2009/3.

Duke, S. 2013. The European External Action Service and Public Diplomacy, Discussion Papers in Diplomacy - Netherlands Institute of International Relations‘Clingendael’, The Hague, September.

Duke, S. 2013 The European External Action Service and the Quest for an Effective Public Diplomacy, - IPSI Analysis No. 216

European Commission. 2001. B11.04.2001. COM(2001)211 final Communication from the Commission on Conflict prevention. Brussels: European Commission

European Commission 2018. Communication and Visibility in EU-financed external actions Requirements for implementing partners (Projects), January 2018

European Commission and HR/VP, Joint Communication to the European Parliament and the Council on the EU’s Comprehensive Approach to External Conflict andCrises, JOIN(2013) 30 final,

European Consensus on Development 2016: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/new-european-consensus-development-our-world-our-dignity-our-future_en

European Union. 12 December 2003. A secure Europe in a better world. European Security Strategy. Brussels: European Union

Helly, D., Galeazzi, G. 2014. Planting seeds and breaking eggs: EU Delegations dealing with peace and security - the Sahel case and beyond. (Briefing Note 70).Maastricht: ECDPM

HRVP. 2016 EU’s global strategy for foreign and security policy, Shared Vision Common Action: A Stronger Europe: A global strategy for the European Union’s Foreignand Security Policy

Gourlay, C. 2009. EU–UN Cooperation in Peacebuilding Partners in Practice? UNIDIR United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research Geneva, Switzerland -UNIDIR/2009/7

Juncos, A. E. & Steven Blockmans (2018): The EU’s role in conflict prevention and peacebuilding: four key challenges, Global Affairs, DOI:10.1080/23340460.2018.1502619

Sherriff, A. & Deneckere, M. forthcoming. Supporting peacebuilding in times of change. EU institutions case study. Maastricht: ECDPM

Sherriff, A., Veron, P., Deneckere, M. & Hauck, V. 2018. Supporting peacebuilding in times of change. Synthesis report of 4 case studies. Maastricht: ECDPM

European Centre for Development Policy Management

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Thanks! - This is work in progress

Comments can be made to:

Andrew SherriffHead of European External Affairs

ProgrammeEmail: <as@ecdpm.org>