EUPOL Afghanistan partly effective in delivering on its mandate
A report published today by the European Court of Auditors i (ECA) finds that the EU police mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL) has partly achieved its aim of helping to establish a sustainable and effective Afghan-owned civilian police. In the absence of a trained, fully-functioning Afghan police force, and with high illiteracy rates and widespread corruption in the Afghan police and justice systems, EUPOL managed to contribute to a reform of the Ministry of the Interior and professionalisation of the country's police. However, the continuing systemic weaknesses in the country's justice and police put at risk the legacy of the results achieved by EUPOL, as well as of the Afghan policing sector in general, after the phasing-out of the mission by the end of 2016.
“While external factors, such as lack of security and the almost complete absence of a trained and functional police force, may provide some explanation for EUPOL's mixed results, other shortcomings can be attributed to the mission itself. The ECA makes a number of recommendations, applicable not only to EUPOL Afghanistan, but also to other CSDP missions aiming to improve their effectiveness and the sustainability of the outcomes achieved,” commented Hans Gustaf Wessberg, the ECA Member responsible for the report.
The EU auditors note that the EU managed to establish a European civilian police mission in Afghanistan in a very unstable environment. Its mandate, which was to strategically advise the higher echelons of the police force and create links to a wider rule of law, provided a hitherto-missing building block in the country's police and justice services, thus ensuring EU added value. From a difficult start, where EUPOL’s deployment proved cumbersome and it suffered from considerable logistical and staffing constraints, EUPOL has gradually gained recognition for its expertise and contribution to reforming the country's police.
However, EUPOL did not manage to bring together all European actors as initially intended. This was due in part to the mission’s limited size and also to competition from other European and international efforts. In spite of this, EUPOL contributed to enhanced cooperation with the EU Member States on the ground and sought to promote international cooperation.
When it comes to results, EUPOL helped the Afghan police to gain some public trust by supporting the implementation of basic principles of civilian policing, but the Afghan police and justice systems continue to suffer from systemic weaknesses, including inadequate institutional development, an ineffective legal framework and limited staff capacity. Other factors such as undue political influence, corruption and the focus on counter‑insurgency policing continue to hinder institutional development of the criminal justice sector as a whole. Connecting the national police to justice reform was one of the areas in which it was most challenging for EUPOL to demonstrate results. The audit also noted that EUPOL’s assessment and reporting systems were not suited to the mandate because they were too basic, without sufficient focus on results and added value throughout most of the period audited.
The sustainability of the results of EUPOL’s work and of the Afghan policing sector in general will depend on the willingness of the Afghan authorities to take ownership of the outcomes, on the security situation and on funding from the EU and other international stakeholders. Concerns also remain as to how the EU can build upon EUPOL’s achievements and whether maximum value will be obtained from the disposal of the mission’s significant assets.
Press Release: EUPOL Afghanistan partly effective in delivering on its mandate - say EU Auditors
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Special report No 7/2015: The EU police mission in Afghanistan: mixed results 