JOINT STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT Capacity Building in support of Security and Development Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation from the European Parliament and the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 230/2014 of 11 March 2014 establishing an instrument contributing to stability and peace
Date: 2016-07-05
Institutions: European Commission, Service for Foreign Policy Instruments
Subjects: common security and defence policy, conflict prevention, development aid, financing of aid, foreign policy, international cooperation, international security, military cooperation, peacekeeping

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   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNION FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND SECURITY POLICY Strasbourg, 5.7.2016  SWD(2016) 225 final   JOINT STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  Capacity Building in support of Security and Development  Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation from the European Parliament and the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 230/2014 of 11 March 2014 establishing an instrument contributing to stability and peace   {COM(2016) 447 final} {SWD(2016) 222 final}  
 
 
IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

CAPACITY BUILDING IN SUPPORT OF SECURITY AND DEVELOPMENT  

A.  NEED FOR ACTION 

the  European  Commission  and 

themselves”.1  In  April  2015, 

The European Council conclusions of 19/20 December 2013 emphasised “the importance of 
supporting  partner  countries  and  regional  organisations,  through  providing  training,  advice, 
equipment and resources where appropriate, so that they can increasingly prevent or manage 
crises  by 
the  High 
Representative  of  the  Union  for  Foreign  Affairs  and  Security  Policy  adopted  a  Joint 
Communication on ‘capacity building in support of security and development’ (CBSD). This 
Communication  identified  gaps  in  the  EU’s  ability  to  support  building  the  capacities  of 
partners in the security sector and went on to conclude that “there is currently no EU budget 
instrument  designed  to  provide  a  comprehensive  financing  to  security  capacity  building  in 
partner  countries,  in  particular  its  military  component”.2  This  is  problematic,  because 
“conflict,  insecurity  and  instability  […]  lead  to  human  suffering,  forced  displacement  and 
the  United  Nations  Resolution 
dire  development  outcomes  as  recognised  […] 
Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including Goal 16”3 
on peace and stability. 

in 

Stability  and  security  are  essential  for  developmental  efforts  to  take  hold;  indeed,  they  are 
part of comprehensive development policy strategies, which include fostering conditions for 
peace  and  human  security.  Identified  gaps  in  support  of  CBSD  hamper  the  EU’s  ability  to 
achieve  external  action  objectives, including  fostering  conditions  for peace, human security 
and sustainable development.  

The general objectives of this initiative are those set out in Articles 21 TEU and 208 TFEU, 
and in particular: 

 

 

to ensure that the EU’s development assistance to fragile developing countries is not 
undermined  by  situations  of  instability  and  conflict,  by  enabling  all  security  actors, 
including the military, to ensure stability, peace, and law and order;  

to  foster  the  sustainable  economic,  social  and  environmental  development  of 
developing countries, with the primary aim of eradicating poverty, whilst complying 
with the commitments and taking into account the objectives approved in the context 
of the United Nations and other relevant international organisations. 

The specific objectives are: 

 

to  contribute  to  improving  the  capacity  of  partner  countries  to  prevent  and  manage 
crises by themselves; 

1 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/140245.pdf 
2 JOIN(2015) 17 final of 28 April 2015 
3 JOIN(2016) 31 

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 

to contribute to improving the effectiveness of security actors, including the military, 
within  partner  countries  through  the  delivery  of  capacity  building  in  support  of 
security and development; and 

 

to contribute to ensuring the respect of the rule of law, good governance, as well as 
enhanced civilian control and oversight over the military in third countries. 

EU action is necessary and justified both on the grounds of the objectives laid down in the 
Treaty  (Articles  21  TEU;  208  TFEU)  and  on  the  subsidiarity  principle.  EU  Member  States 
have called on the Commission and the High Representative to present proposals that would 
allow  the  Union  to  engage  comprehensively  in  CBSD.  Comprehensive  and  flexible  EU 
support  to  the  security  sector  would  have  the  benefit  of  allowing  short-  and  longer-term 
actions  to  bring  on  board  all  security  actors  in  a  country,  and  would  allow  for  better 
coordination of such support. 

B.  SOLUTIONS 

The  negative  effects  of  not  addressing  the  problem  result  in  a  lack  of  effectiveness  of  the 
Union’s  actions  and  its  ability  to  contribute  to  stability  and  the  achievement  of  the 
Sustainable  Development  Goals,  especially  in  fragile  countries.  The  solution  consequently 
leads to the need to put forward a proposal, which tackles the need to provide comprehensive 
financial support to all security sector actors, including the military, whenever the objective 
and the content of the intended type of activities can be demonstrated as clearly contributing 
to development policy objectives.  

The options consider adjusting existing financing mechanisms within or outside the general 
budget  of  the  Union  and  developing  a  fully-fledged  comprehensive  dedicated  financing 
instrument.  The  options  imply  different  degrees  of  change  to  existing  secondary  legislation 
and  entail  different  timeframes.  Favouring  a  possible  immediate  solution  is  identified  as 
essential,  in  order  to  address  the  immediate  challenges.  Such  an  immediate  option  would 
consist of an adoption by the Commission of a proposal in 2016.  

The  impact  assessment  concludes  that  a  revision  of  the  Instrument  contributing  to 
Stability  and  Peace4  (IcSP)  would  be  the  most  appropriate  and  effective  short-term 
option.  A  fully  comprehensive  and  long-term  implementation  of  the  CBSD  initiative  (i.e. 
including  support  to  the  military  for  defence-related  purposes)  would  require  combining  a 
budget 
tasks)  with  another,  possibly  extra-budgetary, 
mechanism. 

instrument  (for  development 

In addition to extensive consultations with Member States and other stakeholders in 2015, an 
online public consultation ran from 1 April to 27 May 2016 to give the public the opportunity 
to  provide  feedback.  Of  the  respondents,  94%  agreed  that  an  effective,  legitimate  and 
accountable security sector in partner countries could contribute to peace, human security and 
sustainable  development.  Similarly,  85%  of  the  respondents  agreed  that  strengthening  the 
governance of military actors, particularly in fragile countries, could lead to stability and the 
achievement  of the UN’s Sustainable Development  Goals  (SDGs). The  public consultation, 
notwithstanding its non-representativeness, thus indicates that those consulted agreed on the 

4 Regulation (EU) No 230/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing 
an instrument contributing to stability and peace 

3 

 
 
                                                 
need to act. In a non-paper, dated 15 April 2016, ten EU Member States emphasised that, in 
the short term, the IcSP constitutes the most appropriate tool in the area of CBSD. 

C.  IMPACTS OF THE PREFERRED OPTION 

The  revision  of  the  Instrument  contributing  to  Stability  and  Peace  (IcSP)  is  the  preferred 
option  in  view  of  timing,  geographical  coverage,  and  flexibility  in  its  implementation  as  a 
crisis instrument. The IcSP is geared to respond to situations of urgency, crisis or emerging 
crisis  to  prevent  conflicts  but  also  more  long-term  support  to  conflict-prevention,  peace 
building  and  crisis  preparedness,  as  well  as  addressing  global,  trans-regional  and  emerging 
threats. The IcSP has a worldwide geographical application and focuses on crisis response in 
third countries. Thus, a possible IcSP review would be limited to adding a feature allowing 
the instrument to address the current gap in providing support to all security actors (including 
the military) enabling in particular the provision of training and equipment to address urgent 
short- and medium-term needs in the context of the achievement of sustainable development. 

Support to the military of third countries with EU instruments using Article 209 TFEU as a 
legal  basis  would  remain  exceptional.  It  would  only  be  applicable  in  specific  partner 
countries under clearly defined situations where building the capacity of the military serves a 
developmental goal.  

A budgetary allocation of EUR 100 million over the period 2017-2020 would be appropriate. 
The  initiative  would  be  financed  through  redeployment  within  Heading  IV  (‘the  EU  as  an 
external actor’) of the general budget of the Union. No additional financial resources would 
be  mobilised.  Implementation  would  be  governed  by  Regulation  (EU)  No 236/2014  laying 
down  common  rules  and  procedures  for  the  implementation  of  the  Union’s  instruments  for 
financing external actions. 

No  additional  impact  on  the  national  budgets  of  EU  Member  States  is  foreseen;  not 
applicable  to  public  administrations  in  EU  Member  States,  no  transposition  measures  are 
required.  Public  administrations  in  third  countries  can  expect  beneficial  impact  from  the 
increased coherence brought about by the proposed initiative. 

For  the  countries  concerned,  the  long-term  economic  and  developmental  impact  of  this 
initiative  is  considerable;  given  limited  amounts  involved  and  the  difficulty  of  ascertaining 
causality,  no  ex  ante  estimation  of  impact  is  conducted.  Individual  actions  should  be 
measured  against  project-specific  indicators.  More  stable  and  secure  societies  are  a 
precondition  for  sustainable  development  and  increased  wellbeing,  thus  reducing  fragility- 
and conflict-related pressures. 

D.  FOLLOW UP 

The  revised  IcSP  Regulation  would  apply  until  31  December  2020.  The  follow-up  to  this 
initiative  would  be  considered  in  the  context  of  discussions  concerning  the  post-2020 
Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).  

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