(1)

On 20 October 2011, the Council adopted Decision 2011/697/CFSP (1) appointing Mr Gary QUINCE as the European Union Special Representative (EUSR) to the African Union (AU). The EUSR's mandate is to expire on 30 June 2012.

(2)

The mandate of the EUSR should be extended for a further period of 12 months.

(3)

The EUSR will implement the mandate in the context of a situation which may deteriorate and could impede the achievement of the objectives of the Union's external action as set out in Article 21 of the Treaty,

(a)

enhancing the Union's political dialogue and broader relationship with the AU;

(b)

strengthening the Union-AU partnership in all areas outlined in the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, contributing to the development and implementation of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy in partnership with the AU, respecting the principle of African ownership and working more closely with African representatives in multilateral fora in coordination with multilateral partners;

(c)

working with, and providing support to the AU by supporting institutional development and strengthening the relationship between Union and AU institutions, including through development assistance, to promote:

(a)

strengthen the overall Union influence in, and coordination of, the Addis Ababa-based dialogue with the AU and its Commission, on the whole range of CFSP/ESDP issues covered by the Union-AU relationship, in particular the Peace and Security Partnership and support to the operationalisation of the African Peace and Security Architecture;

(b)

ensure an appropriate level of political representation, reflecting the importance of the Union as a political, financial and institutional partner of the AU, and the step change in that partnership necessitated by the growing political profile of the AU on the world stage;

(c)

represent, should the Council so decide, Union positions and policies, when the AU plays a major role in a crisis situation for which no EUSR has been appointed;

(d)

help achieve better coherence, consistency and coordination of Union policies and actions towards the AU, and contribute to enhance coordination of the broader partner group and its relation with the AU;

(e)

contribute to the implementation of the Union's human rights policy relevant to the AU, including the EU Guidelines on human rights, in particular the EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict as well as on violence against women and girls and combating all forms of discrimination against them, and the Union policy on Women, Peace and Security and the EU Action Plan to follow up on the decisions of the International Criminal Court;

(f)

follow closely, and report on, all relevant developments at AU level;

(g)

maintain close contact with the AU Commission, other AU organs, missions of African Sub-regional organisations to the AU and the missions of the AU Member States to the AU;

(h)

facilitate the relations and cooperation between the AU and African Sub-regional organisations, especially in those areas where the Union is providing support;

(i)

offer advice and provide support to the AU upon request in the areas outlined in the Joint Africa-EU Strategy;

(j)

offer advice and provide support upon request to the building up of the AU's crisis management capabilities;

(k)

on the basis of a clear division of tasks, coordinate with, and support, the actions of EUSRs with mandates in AU Member States/Regions; and

(l)

maintain close contacts and promote coordination with key international partners of the AU present in Addis Ababa, especially the United Nations, but also with non-State actors on the whole range of the CFSP/CSDP issues covered by the Union-AU partnership.

(a)

establishing a mission-specific security plan based on guidance from the EEAS, providing for mission-specific physical, organisational and procedural security measures, governing the management of the secure movement of personnel to, and within, the mission area, and the management of security incidents, and providing for a contingency plan and a mission evacuation plan;

(b)

ensuring that all personnel deployed outside the Union are covered by high risk insurance as required by the conditions in the mission area;

(c)

ensuring that all members of his team to be deployed outside the Union, including locally contracted personnel, have received appropriate security training before or upon arriving in the mission area, based on the risk ratings assigned to the mission area by the EEAS;

(d)

ensuring that all agreed recommendations made following regular security assessments are implemented and providing the Council, the Commission and the HR with written reports on their implementation and on other security issues within the framework of the progress and mandate implementation reports.