Can the EU be more effective in Afghanistan? By Joanna Buckley
★ The EU is not wielding influence in Afghanistan commensurate with its significant contribution of personnel and finances. For too long it had too many offices and representatives in the country, who sometimes contradicted each other. ★ The EU has now taken some welcome steps to streamline its institutional presence following the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. It has merged the top two jobs in Afghanistan but needs to do more; the EU must build a truly unified organisation in the country. ★ To make a greater impact in Afghanistan the EU will also need to clarify and strengthen its strategy. The EU must capitalise on its strength as a multi-lateral organisation while avoiding duplication of the member-states’ efforts. ★ The new EU strategy should be built around governance, reconciliation, police training, regional diplomacy and the rule of law. The EU should also keep human rights at the centre of its dialogue with the government of Afghanistan. Unless the Kabul administration improves its human rights record it will not gain the citizens’ trust, and the country will remain unstable. The European Union is not making an impact in Afghanistan that matches its financial, civilian and military assistance to the country. It is too poorly organised to capitalise fully on its strengths as a multilateral organisation, and its member-states lack a clear vision of the role they want the European institutions to play. The Lisbon treaty, which streamlines the EU’s foreignpolicy machinery, presents a chance to reshape the EU’s presence in Afghanistan and to improve the lines of reporting to Brussels. But the treaty’s cursory prescriptions leave much room for interpretation. This policy brief makes recommendations on how to transform the EU’s institutions in Afghanistan in ways that reduce duplication and minimise the chances of the various EU offices contradicting each other. A more sensible institutional presence alone will not turn the EU into an effective actor in Afghanistan. It must also demonstrate that it can offer unique expertise and resources not currently at the disposal of its
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member-states and other international organisations. The EU has not done well in determining where its strengths lie and what issues it should focus on in Afghanistan. This policy brief 1 ‘Strengthening EU action recommends concrete steps in key in Afghanistan and policy areas, building on the EU’s Pakistan’, 2971st External recently adopted action plan for Relations Council Meeting, Luxembourg, Afghanistan and Pakistan.1 October 27th 2009.
The EU in Afghanistan The newspapers may have dubbed Afghanistan “Barack Obama’s war” but it is also one of the top foreign policy priorities for several European countries, most notably the UK. A number of European governments have argued that if international efforts to rebuild Afghanistan fail, the country will be used as a base for fresh terrorist attacks against the West. Also, an internally violent Afghanistan could destabilise the whole region, drawing Pakistan and other neighbours into the conflict. Not all EU member-states share the sense of urgency, but most have contributed personnel or money to the
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