Brussels, 20/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - The EU Security Studies Institute headed by Nicole Gnesotto has devoted one of its Occasional Papers to the EU police mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUPM), which began its activity on 1 January 2003, thus taking over from the United Nations mission (UNMBH). The aim of the mission, which has a three-year mandate, is to stabilise the country and to bring the conditions of the Bosnian police force closer to European policing standards (see EUROPE of 4/5 November, p.7 and 27 November, p.6). The author, Aguieszka Novak, considers the EUPM will be seen as a test of the EU's ability to respond to international crises, and especially civil crises. For the first time, the European Union will be managing a mission as "leader", which will allow it to establish itself as a credible player for maintaining international peace and security. Furthermore, its mission, which has received the support of the international community, not only covers the framework of the police force but also strengthening of the rule of law.
Regarding the operational aspects of the mission, Ms Kovak considers that the planning team set in place in May 2002 under the management of Sven Frederiksen (the current head of the EUPM) provides a good basis. Also, the experience, albeit limited, acquired during the police missions in which the EU has taken part in Albania and Kosovo will be useful. The political situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina will undeniably be one of the major challenges facing the EUPM given that central institutions are weak and corruption within the local police rife. In addition, the police is organised into fourteen different forces which cooperate very little with each other. The insufficient progress made in reforming the local police forces despite seven years of UN policing in Bosnia Herzegovina (whose means and staff were twice as large as that of the European mission) bears witness to the complex nature of the situation. The fight against organised crime, which cannot be managed by the local police, is one of the priorities of the EUPM. This task, however, will be difficult to fulfil, mainly because the EU mission cannot conduct inquiries as it does not have an enforcement role on the ground. The impossibility of playing such a role, says the author, will mean the EUPM will have to use the "stick and carrot" method to achieve its ends. It should therefore use the conditionality of Commission programmes on the ground (CARDS in particular) and the possibility of giving the head of mission the power to dismiss local police agents that do not adequately fulfil their tasks. Finally, the author fears that the EUPM mission focuses too much on medium and high ranking police officers and on local and central governments, thus running the risk of not fully ensuring control of the police on the ground.
(Occasional Papers N.42 - EU Security Studies Institute. 43, avenue du Président Wilson. F75775 Paris Cédex 16. Tel.: 33.1.56891930. e-mail: institute@iss.en.org website: http://www.iss-en.org ).