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31. The EU Rapid Reaction Facility: A quick fix or fudge?

Author:
Catriona Gourlay, Sibylle Bauer, Christopher Bollinghaus, Hiroko Kosaka, and Russell Pickard
Publication Date:
07-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Security Information Service
Abstract:
One of the shortcomings of European Union (EU) crisis management is the inability, as a direct result of the rigidities imposed by the pillar structure, to mobilise resources to support properly co-ordinated, coherent and timely nonmilitary interventions. The report on Non-Military Crisis Management of the EU, prepared for the European Council in Helsinki in December 1999, called for the establishment of a Rapid Reaction Facility (RRF) to overcome these structural obstacles. The Commission has since developed a proposal for a Council Regulation to establish such a Facility but outstanding questions about its legal basis and its sources of funding may delay its adoption.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

32. Enhancing the EU's Response to Violent Conflict: Moving Beyond Reaction to Preventive Action

Author:
Philip Wilkinson, Stefan Lehne, and Catriona Gourlay
Publication Date:
12-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Security Information Service
Abstract:
Quoting the words of Alva Myrdal in her 1982 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Mrs Theorin noted that we are living in an age of “instrumentalised, de - personalized violence.” In the post - cold war era the battlefield has moved to the village, the street and the home. Most recent and ongoing wars occur within a state rather than between states, with civilians being the prime targets and victims of violent conflict. The international community too often avoids its responsibilities, failing to commit peacekeepers, while others sidestep the United Nations (UN) in pursuit of their own interests. Faced with such inconsistencies in the international community's willingness to intervene, non - violent methods must be given priority. The most important part of the EU's new Rapid Reaction Force is not the missiles, tanks and soldiers, but rather the advantage in civilian crisis management that it presents. The central part must be a civilian peace service based on voluntary civilian organisations trained and competent to serve in crisis management scenarios. We need to incorporate civil society unless we want it to become a shadow of NATO. Two thousand years ago Cicero remarked that there are two ways of resolving conflict: through negotiation or through violence. The first is for human beings, the other for wild beasts. We should have a clear vision of conflict prevention that recognises that there are two ways of solving conflicts: through negotiations and through violence. We are not beasts, but humans. And we must seek to solve conflicts through negotiation, not killing.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution
Political Geography:
America, Europe, and Middle East

33. The Future of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy

Author:
Rebecca Johnson, Fraser Cameron, Alberto Navarro, Thierry Tardy, Sophia Clement, Glenys Kinnock, Tom Spencer, John Palmer, Joao de Deus Pinheiro, Christian Kudlich, Paolo Foresti, Hubert Heiss, Peter Ricketts, Elie Marcuse, Johannes Swoboda, Patricia Chilton, Maj Theorin, Stelios Stavrides, Thomas Eckert, Karen Smith, Krister Bringeus, Alexandra Laignel-Lavastine, Ognyan Minchev, Janos Vandor, Eric Remacle, Pauline Neville-Jones, Vasilij Likhachev, Peter Truscott, Jannis Sakellariou, Jesus Nunez, Claire Spencer, Birchara Khader, Alain Gresh, Lotte Leicht, Tim Hancock, David Nyheim, Francisco Rey, Bronwyn Brady, Geraldine O'Callaghan, Peter Saveiys, Brian Wood, Kiflemariam Gebrewold, Bernd Hemingway, and Alyson J. K. Bailes
Publication Date:
09-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Security Information Service
Abstract:
In his opening remarks as Chair of the conference, Tom Spencer, Chair of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, congratulated the organisers on their excellent timing. The European Union was now in a phase of 'pragmatic' evolution of CFSP and he believed the next nine months presented opportunities for progress.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Europe