EPLO Civil Society Dialogue Network Policy Meeting A BRIEF REFLECTION ON: POSSIBILITIES FOR ENHANCING EUROPEAN UNION SUPPORT FOR UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING EPLO Civil Society Dialogue Network Policy Meeting 1 February 2016

Missing: consideration of political interests and possibilities? SETTING THE SCENE: FROM HIPPO TO UN/SG AND BEYOND HIPPO primacy of politics full spectrum of UN peace operations stronger global-regional partnerships field-focused and people-centered UNSG a renewed focus on prevention and mediation stronger regional-global partnerships new ways of planning and conducting peace operations RESIDUAL financing AU operations civilian protection 1325 Single operations account and extra DSG Missing: consideration of political interests and possibilities?

These aren’t necessarily true, but merit debate ‘PROVOCATIVE’ HYPOTHESES ON EU SUPPORT FOR UN PEACEKEEPING It is not about partnership, but interest-based support The UN has greater scope, legitimacy & experience The EU is the largest source of potential regional support Progress has been made, but structural issues remain Upside: EU action plan and UN guidelines Downside: Collaboration too ad-hoc, bilateral EU Member State – UN collaboration prevails, mistrust of UN C&C capabilities Key blockages are political, not bureaucratic Do Member States want the EU as key route to better UN peacekeeping? Generally or when interests converge? Does the UN want a privileged EU relation if it can deliver? These aren’t necessarily true, but merit debate

A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT POLITICAL INTERESTS FOR BETTER SUPPORT Compatibility of UN-EU purpose 1 mission, aligned support 2 missions, aligned mandates 1 mission, support not aligned 2 missions, mandates not aligned high Level of interest key EU member states low high low

FOUR BOLD IDEAS FOR GREATER SUPPORT FOCUSED ON THE GREEN QUADRANTS Make better use of EU Special Representatives to support the UN to cover regional dimensions of crisis BOLD IDEA 2: Synchronize EU SSR and RoL programming with UN mission requirements BOLD IDEA 3: Develop a standardized mechanism for supporting the AU with EU as key financier BOLD IDEA 4: Make a case to EU Member States that clarifies improvements, weaknesses and issues of UN Command and Control

Erwin van Veen Conflict Research Unit Senior research fellow eveen@clingendael.nl