Debate: The implementation of civilian CSDP and other EU civilian security assistance
Date: MONDAY, 17 APRIL 2023
Speaker: Dubravka Šuica
Language: EN

Today’s debate provides a timely opportunity to summarise the results achieved under the first civilian Common Security and Defence Policy compact and to focus on the future developments, including the next compact. Under the first civilian CSDP compact, solid progress has been made both at Member State level and within EU services and civilian CSDP missions. However, as its implementation will soon come to an end, on 30 June, challenges remain. Our 12 CSDP missions are deployed in some of the most challenging environments. With around 2 200 women and men serving under the EU flag, the civilian missions are our trademark instrument in our response to external conflicts and crises, ultimately contributing to our own security at home. They have proven capable of swiftly and effectively addressing the most pressing foreign policy challenges and meeting partners’ needs. Most recent examples are the swift adaptation of the mandate of the EU advisory mission in Ukraine after Russia’s brutal invasion, or the rapid establishment of a new civilian mission in Armenia. With the launching soon of the 30th civilian mission to Moldova, civilian CSDP has also proved to be adaptable to new and emerging security challenges, including hybrid threats and foreign interference and information manipulation: key threats you have also identified in your report. All this shows that the demand for civilian crisis management is growing, and as the security environment around Europe and beyond deteriorates, there is no time to rest on our laurels. Dear Members, your report also points out some of the shortcomings of civilian CSDP, including lack of sufficient resources and funding. Member States’ staff contributions have witnessed limited change, with only ten Member States providing 78% of seconded personnel, and the budget has remained tight despite a growing number of tasks and missions on the ground. This brings me to the question: what next? In light of changing security threats, the strategic compass calls upon us to adopt a second civilian CSDP compact by mid-2023 – the middle of this year – to advance towards a more effective and capable civilian CSDP. Today you call for more resources, funding, political visibility and strategic vision for civilian CSDP missions, and we share this perspective. Civilian CSDP missions are the union’s flagship crisis management tool under the political ownership of Member States and financed through our CFSP budget. The missions have to effectively respond to our partners’ needs, ensure local ownership and make a real change on the ground. The second civilian CSDP compact provides us with an opportunity to renew commitments and assign concrete timelines and actions to them. There are multiple work strands where we need to speed up our efforts. Let me just mention a few of them. First, we need to address the capability gap. We have to provide our missions with the skilful resources they need to deliver on their tasks. This is essential to translate our political ambitions into concrete deliverables. Second, we need an effective evaluation mechanism to measure the impact of our civilian mission. This will allow us to assess the relevance of their mandates. The third: our response needs to be agile. Our ambition remains to be able to deploy 200 experts in 30 days. To conclude, allow me to take the opportunity to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to those women and men serving in our 12 civilian CSDP missions in often challenging and non-permissive environments. Let me once again thank you for your contribution and your engagement in civilian CSDP. We encourage you to stay involved over the implementation of the next civilian CSDP compact.