essay / Alejandro Palacios Jiménez
According to agreement article 3 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the EU's objectives are framed within the framework of promoting peace by fostering freedom, security and justice. However, situations of external instability can undermine the achievement of these internal objectives. Will the EU be able to respond effectively to such situations without betraying the values that created it?
This article tries to expose the main mediation efforts made by the European Union as a supranational entity. This article does not intend, however, to offer a deep analysis on the topic of mediation, but to show the main institutions that, at the European level, try to give a response to conflicts through mediation as a process of peaceful resolution of (potential) disputes.
Mediation has become increasingly important in both conflict prevention and conflict resolution in many areas. The fact that mediation is more economically viable than war, and that it leads to more favorable situations for both parties, has favored its use to mitigate conflicts. Consequently, the EU is giving greater importance to mediation, with the European Union being one of the most important supranational institutions dedicated to this work.
What is mediation? This is an alternative process of conflict resolution, based on dialogue, through which the parties involved, voluntarily and confidentially, meet with an impartial mediator who will guide them in reaching a mutually beneficial agreement . In summary, to mediate is to help to communicate. Even though this is clear, the different organizations that are dedicated to it differ in the way it is carried out. In our case, the Union takes advantage of its normative nature and resilience to mediate conflicts that could lead to instability near its external borders through agreements, mainly of an economic nature.
The EU's commitment to mediation was first set out in the "Concept on Strengthening EU Mediation and Dialogue Capacities", elaborated in 2009. Although entrance in force of the Lisbon Treaty modified its modus operandi, this document served to set the instructions of the EU's objectives in subject of dialogue and cooperation. On the one hand, it expanded the definition of mediation by incorporating dialogue and facilitation and, on the other hand, it treated mediation as a "primary response instrument", i.e. as an instrument to be used in the first instance written request. Furthermore, the Concept emphasizes incorporating mediation as an integral part of the Union's foreign policy in order to develop it in a more systematic way, instead of concentrating these actions in mere ad hoc missions.
The Lisbon Treaty, signed in 2007 and in force since 2009, allowed the creation of a more efficient, complete and quasi-independent European External Action Service (EEAS), within which the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was developed, making possible a more complete treatment of the topic peaceful settlement of disputes. In fact, the CFSP meant an improvement of the EU capabilities in relation to, on the one hand, diplomatic instruments and political dialogue, and, on the other hand, of the strategy against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
This commitment of the EU is also reflected in its involvement at different levels, which differ according to the importance the EU attaches to each process. There are two ways of action: the first is reference letter to the attendance that the EU provides to the UN in its particular work for conflict prevention. It does this by contributing troops, police officers and international observers to its operations, amounting to a total of almost 6,000 troops, i.e. more than 6% of the staff total. The alternative way is for the EU itself to act as an actor in the process through the European Union Special Representatives (EUSRs), diplomats chosen by the High Representative to fulfill a specific mandate. An example of this are the so-called "CSDP Missions" related to the resolution of the conflict between Albania and Macedonia, known as the agreement of Ohrid in 2001; as well as in the agreement of Peace in the Aceh region in 2005. Sometimes it is the High Representative who directly mediates conflicts, as was and is the case of the E3+3 talks with Iran on its nuclear program or the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.
At subject , the European Union presents both long-term and short-term strategies, with priority given to the former.
The EU's long-term action focuses on addressing the structural causes that prevent peaceful life in a specific region. Such actions are based on the premise that most conflicts are due to socio-economic differences in developing regions development such as the Philippines, Iraq or Georgia. The EU focuses on bringing stability and cohesion to the region, mainly through the financial aid trade. In this task, the Union facilitates access to the European market for products from these areas. A clear example of this is seen in the fact that the European Union is the main trade partner for Africa.
In addition, the European Union, through its delegations, carries out consular cooperation plans to deal with possible crisis situations, including contingency plans, i.e. alternative procedures to the normal operation of an institution. Their purpose is to allow the institution to function, even when some of its functions cease to do so due to an incident, whether internal or external to the organization. At present, such plans are being developed in countries such as Nepal, Gaza, Libya, Lesotho and India.
These actions require a thorough analysis of the region in question through the elaboration of a roadmap flexible enough to allow the EU to react to a substantial change in the circumstances surrounding the conflict (new outbreak of conflict, increased tension, natural disasters leading to even more displaced persons...) Therefore, a global and uniform approach to the improvement of structural conditions for conflict prevention is not possible.
In relation to the short term, the EU created in 2001 the so-called "Rapid Action Mechanism". This consists of supporting victims and providing financial aid financial support to NGOs, regional organizations, public and private agents and other actors with experience and capacity to act in the affected area. These contributions are non-refundable, i.e. the borrower is not obliged to repay the lender, in this case the EU, the money lent. In addition, under the ECHO Regulation C in 1996, the EU carries out missions to support civilian victims of natural or man-made disasters. Thus, the EU carries out tasks such as humanitarian financial aid in Syria, medical attendance in West Africa by the emergence of Ebola, water supply or construction of shelters in the Central African Republic, among others. All this is possible thanks to the almost 1,000 million euros allocated each year by the European Union to these tasks.
Both actions are coordinated by the Commission, which, once the actions have been completed, evaluates whether they have contributed as expected to the objectives previously set. All this will make it possible, in the short term, to minimally re-establish stable conditions in the affected area.
In addition, the EU plays an important role in financing projects of outside organizations aimed at conflict prevention. In this respect, the EU has two main bodies. The first is the so-called Instrument Contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP), formerly Instrument for Stability (IfS), which currently finances more than 200 projects in more than 75 countries, a task for which it has 2.3 billion euros this 2014-2020 academic year. The second is the African Peace Facility (APF), founded in 2004. This system, financed by the European Fund development and which allocates annually about 1.9 billion euros, allows the Union to provide the African continent with funds to finance the efforts of the African Union on subject peace and security.
On the other hand, it is worth mentioning the alliances that the Union has established with independent organizations belonging to civil society. The most important of these is the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO). Founded in 2001, its mission statement is to influence European politicians to take more effective and efficient action in the field of mediation. In total, EPLO has 33 partner organizations from 13 European countries (Berghof Foundation, Interpeace...) plus the so-called academic friends, which is an informal network of academics working on issues related to the peaceful resolution of disputes.
The EPLO organization, thanks to funding from member organizations and the Union, carries out parallel projects whose goal is the promotion of dialogue between European politicians and civil society. These include the network Civil Society Dialogue Network (CSDN) and the European Union Civil Capacity (EU-CIVCAP).
In conclusion, the European Union's commitment to mediation takes the form of both individual action and support for this amalgam of organizations dedicated to the search for an alternative method of dispute resolution. The many efforts in this direction reflect the concerns of a society increasingly committed to the development of peaceful policies, on civil service examination to belligerent ones that could only plunge humanity into violence, poverty, uncertainty and fear.
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