Brussels, 10/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 10 April, the External Relations Council adopted a joint action establishing an EU planning team for Kosovo (EUPT Kosovo) responsible for preparing the ground for a possible EU “rule of law” mission in province. The planning team, to be composed of around 24 experts in policing and justice as well as administrative personnel, will be gradually deployed on the ground between end April and 1 September. The experts will be responsible for planning to allow certain tasks of the United Nations mission on the ground, UNMIK, to be transferred to a possible EU mission, and for providing technical assistance. It was at the request of the United Nations Special Representative for Kosovo, Soren Jessen-Petersen, and with the agreement of the provisional institutions of the government of that province, that the EU decided to deploy the planning team before a possible crisis-management mission is deployed. The idea would be for the mission to take over from UNMIK from 1 January 2007. It would be just as large (there is talk of it being 800-strong) and would have an executive mandate. This means that, unlike the EU policing mission in Bosnia, its members would be armed and able to act effectively, like the local police or justice. Nonetheless, decisions on the possible despatch of this mission and its practical arrangements (mandate, composition) are linked to the outcome of negotiations underway on the future status of Kosovo. The results of these talks must therefore be awaited before the joint action can be implemented.