The European Parliament on Wednesday, 13 March, asked the Council of the EU, the European Commission and the EU High Representative to “present a strategic reflection on the use, role, mandates and contribution of the EU Special Representatives [EUSRs] in light of the implementation of the Union's overall strategy”.
The EU currently has five regional EUSRs (Horn of Africa, Sahel, Central Asia, Middle East peace process, South Caucasus and crisis in Georgia), two country-specific (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo) and one thematic EUSR for human rights.
In the report by Hilde Vautmans (ALDE, Belgium), which they adopted without a vote under Rule 113.6 of the Parliament's Rules of Procedure, the European Parliament calls for ensuring that EUSRs are appointed only "when they bring clear added value" and for avoiding their proliferation and fragmentation of their mandates in order not to have duplication with the other EU institutions. All possible ways to strengthen the role of the EUSRs as effective tools of the Union's external policy must be examined, say MEPs.
According to MEPs, conflict prevention and resolution, mediation and facilitation of dialogue, as well as fundamental freedoms, human rights, democracy, the rule of law and gender equality should be cross-cutting priorities and therefore the cornerstone of the competences associated with EUSR mandates. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)