What are the issues facing the European Union in developing its Security Sector Reform policy? This book from the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) discusses the EU policy framework plus broader international perspectives, and examines EU SSR involvement in the Western Balkans, the former Soviet Union, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, and the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
The EU has increasingly aimed to support the strengthening of oversight mechanisms across the security sector to help other countries improve democratic security sector governance. Key challenges in enhancing EU SSR interventions are lack of coherence and coordination. It is important to prioritise SSR at senior national and EU levels and to develop strategies for streamlined implementation.
EU SSR lacks a single institutional home, a consolidated means of budgetary support, and a single SSR concept. SSR mainstreaming relies on EC spending without a strategic political-administrative base, and so practical implementation may be problematic.
- SSR interventions have been hindered by a lack of long-term, predictable donor funding, and by multiple financing channels. Resulting gaps in support include the area of security sector governance and accountability. Security and development assistance follow different timeframes, and evidence suggests that the mismatch between short and long-term funding reduces the efficiency of SSR interventions.
- Political neutrality in promoting democratic governance of the security sector may be a potential EU strength, but the EU’s SSR involvement in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern region, for example, illustrates the challenges posed by other EU agendas.
- Further difficulties in developing European SSR policy include: the difficulty of agreeing on an EU SSR concept when member states have differing versions of democratic process and control; and lack of resources and leverage.
The challenge of donor coordination in SSR remains formidable, and requires international agreement on a coherent programme. SSR has the potential to become a framework to steer other EU policy developments. This would require more member state governments to adopt a ‘whole of government’ approach to SSR to generate the political will needed to integrate development and security structure at the EU level.
- An EU-NATO High-Level Policy Group is recommended to improve cooperation and develop a common post-conflict reconstruction strategy.
- Using the OECD DAC Handbook on SSR, the OECD could facilitate shared learning in the international community to promote: dialogue with diplomatic and security communities; greater involvement of the rule of law community; understanding of good practice with implementing partners (the private sector and NGOs) to bridge the gap between policy and practice; and the active engagement of partner countries.
- SSR can be integrated with potentially conflicting aims such as Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR). SSR and DDR in post-conflict states should be complementary, parallel processes. Promoting the growth of regional communities to support weak states can help reconcile security and development policies.
