On Monday 15 October, the Council extended the mandate of the EU Advisory Mission in Iraq (EUAM Iraq) until 17 April 2020 and agreed on a budget of €64.8 million for the period from 18 October 2018 to 17 April 2020.
The mission’s mandate, which is to provide assistance in implementation of the civilian aspects of the Iraqi national security strategy, was also updated “to reflect lessons learnt during the first year of the mission and following its strategic review”, a Council press release states.
Consequently, from now on, the mission will have three strategic objectives. The first is to provide advice and expertise to the Iraqi authorities at strategic level to identify and define the requirements for the coherent implementation of the security sector reform civilian-related aspects of the Iraqi national security programme and associated plans. The second is to identify opportunities at national, regional and provincial levels for further EU engagement in support of the needs of civilian security sector reform. The third objective is to assist the EU delegation in the coordination of EU and member states’ support in the field of security sector reform, ensuring coherence of EU action.
The Baghdad-based mission, launched on 16 October 2017 (see EUROPE 11884) and headed by Markus Ritter of Germany, currently has 52 staff. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)