EU security and defence initiative in support of West African countries of the Gulf of Guinea

KEY POINTS

Mandate

• The initiative’s main strategic objective is to assist Benin and Ghana, the West African countries in which the mission is set up, to develop security and defence forces capable of containing and responding to pressure exercised by terrorist armed groups.
• The decision leaves open the possibility of inviting other West African countries to join the initiative.
• The initiative has a specific mandate to achieve this objective:
  • contribute to enhancing resilience in vulnerable areas in the countries’ northern regions by increasing security and defence forces;
  • provide pre-deployment operational training to security and defence forces;
  • support enhancement in technical areas of security and defence forces;
  • promote the rule of law and good governance in the security sectors, with a focus on security and defence forces, and support trust-building between civil society and security and defence forces.
• The initiative’s strategic and operational planning, activities and reporting integrate international humanitarian law, human rights and the principle of gender equality, the protection of civilians and the agendas under:
  • United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security;
  • UNSCR 2250 (2015) on youth, peace and security; and
  • UNSCR 1612 (2005) on children and armed conflict.
• The initiative will implement civilian and military projects, deploying mobile training teams, visiting experts and crisis response teams.
• The initiative will help implement assistance measures under the European Peace Facility, decided upon by the Council of the European Union to support the countries, such as those provided to Ghana in July 2023.

Structure and chain of command

• The Political and Security Committee (PSC) exercises political control over and decides the strategic direction of the initiative under the responsibility of the Council and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
• The PSC reports to the Council at regular intervals.
• The initiative has two pillars: a civilian pillar under the strategic command and control of the Civilian Operation Commander and a military pillar under the strategic command and control of the Military Commander.
• The PSC receives regular reports from the chairman of the EU Military Committee on the activities of the military pillar.
• The initiative shall have a unified chain of command as a crisis management operation, provided by a Joint Support Coordination Cell.

Financing

The common cost for each of the pillars for the first 6 months of the initiative is set out in the decision. The amount for any further period will be decided by the Council.

Participation of non-EU countries

Under certain conditions, non-EU countries can be invited to contribute to either the civilian or military pillars of the initiative.