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Military and civilian missions and operations
The European Union has undertaken many overseas operations, using civilian and military instruments in several countries in three continents (Europe, Africa and Asia), as part of its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
Today’s geopolitical context requires strong EU leadership when addressing both European and global security and defence concerns. The establishment of a Permanent Structured Cooperation – referred to as PESCO – in December 2017 and the subsequent adoption of the initial set of 17 projects in March 2018 has raised cooperation among the 25 participating EU Member States to a new level.
EUBAM Libya, one of the ten civilian CSDP Missions, advises the Libyan government on border management, law-enforcement and criminal justice. Launched in 2013, the EU Border Assistance Mission works with 45 staff from Tunis and Tripoli. The Head of Mission Vincenzo Taglieferri outlines the current state of play:
The EU Advisory Mission (EUAM) Ukraine, one of the ten civilian CSDP Missions, organised a trip for Ukrainian inspector-criminalists to the Netherlands and Germany between 8-11 July 2018 so that they could find out more about best practices in crime scene management.
Humans suffer from the instability in the Sahel region. 800 civilian and military experts support the Nigerien and Malian governments on their quest to provide security and rule of law services to their citizens.
"Human rights including gender equality are among the core values of the European Union. These values drive our policies and action. We live EU core values when we implement our Mission mandates in the field." explains Bert Versmessen, acting Commander of the currently ten civilian CSDP Missions in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. "We know that integrating the gender perspective makes crisis-management and peace-building more efficient.
