Was the European Union Police Mission (EUPM) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) an appalling failure? This paper from the Institute Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) analyses the 2003-2005 period of the mission and assesses whether EUPM merited the harsh criticism it received. It finds that while EUPM failed to achieve its goal of ‘Europeanising’ Bosnian police services, it achieved a number of tangible results. EUPM’s lack of success was not entirely its own fault.
Numerous problems worked against the EUPM during 2003-2005. Some, including an overambitious mandate, poorly specified standards, coordination problems, slowness to correct mistakes, and inadequate resources and personnel, were the EU’s own fault. Others, however, resulted from a complex local political environment, which challenged EUPM’s goal of developing sustainable law enforcement structures based on local participation and ownership. EUPM, nevertheless, was able to achieve some tangible results. These include developing state-level police agencies, strengthening community policing practices, progress in police accountability, professional skills and management, and introducing technical reforms harmonising police standards.
EUPM had four objectives:
- developing police independence and accountability;
- fighting organised crime and corruption;
- financial viability and sustainability of local police; and
- institution and capacity building.
In regard to these objectives EUPM took a number of measures, including:
- Establishment of a Police Steering Board composed of high-ranking Bosnian police officers, to develop Bosnian ownership, independence and sustainability of the police service;
- Offering Bosnian lower management levels the chance to participate in EUPM’s initial needs assessment exercise, further developing local ownership;
- Targeting Uniform Police, Traffic Units and Special Forces to strengthen capacity to control civil disorder, enhance crime-prevention capabilities and improve capacity for refugees’ safe return;
- Introducing a hotline allowing citizens to make free, anonymous calls about possible crimes, leading to several arrests, charges, drug seizures and recovery of stolen property;
- Introducing a Special Project on Major and Organised Crime and new organisational structures for criminal investigation departments that prioritise organised crime over regular crime; and
- Monitoring recruitment processes under the Police Administration Programme to ensure equal representation of women and all ethnic groups.
EUPM progress was limited by a number of shortcomings of the mission, including:
- Insufficient civilian presence. EUPM was overwhelmingly dominated by police officers. Reforms relating to police service structure, financing and relationship to the courts, however, required skills more likely to be found among civilians.
- Adoption of a state-centric approach to local ownership. While EUPM allowed greater civil society involvement than the previous UN mission, NGOs were only incorporated into processes in subordinate roles, if at all.
- Lack of a mandate to engage directly in police restructuring, preventing significant progress towards developing sustainable financial arrangements.
- Coordination problems between EUPM and EUFOR Althea and the different approaches of both missions to fighting organised crime.
- The artificial nature of the ‘European best practices’ at which EUPM aimed for the Bosnian police services. In some cases not even EUPM met these standards.
