On Friday 27 October, the ambassadors of the 28 member states to the EU endorsed the compromise reached at an inter-institutional negotiating meeting on 18 October by the Presidency of the Council and the European Parliament on improving the EU’s instrument for contributing to stability and peace (IcSP).
The EU will thus be able to extend its assistance by allowing for the financing of measures in support of capacity building for security and development (CBSD) of military actors in partner countries.
The instrument will be able to provide financial support to enhance the competence of the military to carry out development and human security-related tasks, such as the reconstruction and rehabilitation of civil infrastructure, mine clearing and civil protection tasks, a Council press release states. It could also finance the supply of equipment and infrastructure for the military in the areas of IT, transport, communication, water infrastructure and sanitation and also for training, mentoring and advice. The IcSP may not be used, however, to finance recurrent military expenditure, the provision of arms and ammunition or lethal equipment or combat training.
One of the differences between the Council and the Parliament was over where the funding of this assistance was to come from. The Parliament would not allow it to come from credits allocated to development whereas the Council was happy for these funds to be used (see EUROPE 11872). A statement of intent attached to the regulation establishing the IcSP says that the new measures will be financed “primarily” through the redeployment of existing resources under the general budget of the Union (Heading IV of the multiannual financial framework, “Europe in the World”). They will be allocated €100 million for the period 2018-2020.
The Parliament and Council still have formally to adopt the regulation, with a view to its entry into force by the end of the year. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)