Brussels, 30/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 30 October the European Court of Auditors revealed that European assistance for the rule of law in Kosovo is not sufficiently effective. “Kosovo's authorities accord insufficient priority to the rule of law and EU support should be more effective”, said Gijs de Vries, the member of the Court who is responsible for the report on EU assistance to Kosovo for the rule of law.
Although the EU has helped to build capacity - especially in the area of customs - assistance to the police and the judiciary has had only “modest success”. The report states that the judicial system continues to suffer from political interference, from inefficiency and a lack of transparency, and from non application of the legislation. Progress in establishing the rule of law in the north of Kosovo is almost non-existent and the level of corruption and organised crime remains high, the document states.
While the limited effectiveness of European assistance can be explained by the situation in Kosovo, the Court of Auditors says that there are “significant areas where better management by the EEAS and Commission could have made EU assistance more effective”. It recommends that they make better use of policy dialogue and conditionality, and that the “policy dialogue should focus on priority conditions”. The Court also wants the aid that is given to be “linked to concrete benchmarks and take into account EU internal security objectives”.
According to the report, the member states have seconded insufficient and unqualified staff to EULEX, and for too short periods. The EU's coordination mechanisms need to be further improved, including at the international level and in particular with the United States.
In the name of the Commission and the EEAS, the spokesperson Peter Stano, said that “we will continue to cooperate with the Kosovar authorities to ensure that European actions in the area of the rule of law are more efficient and have more effect”.
Between 2007 and 2011, EU aid for the rule of law in Kosovo reached €680 million out of the €1.2 billion assistance for Kosovo. (CG/transl.fl)