States of fragility

SECURITY CO-OPERATION

The EU's security engagement with Africa has intensified in recent years. In 2007, the two sides held their first-ever summit, in Lisbon, and the EU named its first ambassador to the African Union (AU), Koen Vervaeke, who also serves as EUSR. The following year, Javier Solana, then the EU's foreign policy chief, appointed Pierre-Michel Joana, a French general who had headed the EU's security-reform mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as special adviser for African peacekeeping capabilities. 

The current co-operation extends to the Africa Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and associated initiatives, such as the setting up of an AU situation centre and early warning system. The EU's Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, has provided the software with which the AU produces its intelligence assessments. But as Alex Vines of Chatham House wrote in a recent article in International Affairs, the security partnership is hampered by restrictions on the EU's funding, which cannot be used for military
expenditure. 

The EU has contributed, primarily financially, to several AU peace missions, above all in Sudan (AMIS) and Somalia (AMISOM). To date, it has provided €300 million to AMIS and €150m to AMISOM, although much of that has been spent on logistics and paying salaries, because of restrictions on military use of EU funds. The EU has spent approximately €700m in humanitarian aid for Darfur.