EU-FUNDED AFRICA PEACE FACILITY TO STRENGTHEN AU,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 002354

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DOD FOR OSD/SOLIC-SO - DAVID DES ROCHES; DEPARTMENT FOR
AF/RSA - MBITTRICK; IO/UNP - MWEINBERG; DEPARTMENT PLEASE
PASS USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA - AMENGHETTI; GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID MOPS PGOV PREL PREF UX USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: EU-FUNDED AFRICA PEACE FACILITY TO STRENGTHEN AU,
PEACEKEEPING IN AFRICA



1. (SBU) Summary. The European Union (EU) formally
announced the establishment of the Africa Peace Facility
(APF),and funds are now available to support peacekeeping
and peace-enforcing operations in Africa. The EU aims to
strengthen the role of the African Union (AU),particularly
the Peace and Stability Council, through this new funding
mechanism. Although Africans will initiate requests for
disbursements from the 250 million euro account, the EU will
have final say over what can be funded. Certain expenditures
-- such as ammunition, arms and specific military equipment,
spare parts for arms and military equipment, military
salaries and military training for soldiers -- are
prohibited. All deployments must be consistent the UN
principles and objectives. The APF's support for
deployments in Africa will complement the USG's Global Peace
Operations Initiative. End Summary.

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APF: Based on African Ownership & Solidarity
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2. (U) The EU used the launching of the AU's Peace and
Stability Council (AU/PSC) on May 25 to announce that the
long-awaited Africa Peace Facility is now operational. The
AU/PSC will play a central role in the implementation of the
APF. In prepared remarks for the May 25 ceremony in Addis
Ababa, Development Commissioner Poul Nielson noted, "The
launching of the Peace and Security Council is both historic
and welcome. Based on continental solidarity and firm
regional building blocks, the Council is destined to be a
necessary and indispensable contribution to promoting peace
and stability in Africa. The EU's speedy approval of the
Peace Facility recognizes the credibility and authority with
which the AU is taking responsibility in the area of peace
and security. The Peace Facility gives concrete backing to
the emerging African resolve of dealing with African
conflicts."


3. (SBU) On May 6, EU officials provided additional details
to DAVID des Roches (OSD/SOLIC-SO) and USEU personnel
regarding the APF, a 250 million euro funding mechanism to
support peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations in
Africa through 2006. DG Development Pan-African Affairs
officer Igor Driesmans outlined EU objectives in establishing
the AFP as follows:

-- African Ownership: At the EU/AU Maputo Summit in July
2003, African heads of state initiated the request for the
APF, stressing the need for the EU to support African
solutions to African problems. To accomplish this, most of
the APF funds (200 million euros) will be used to support
AU/PSC deployments or peace operations of sub-regional groups
such as ECOWAS. The European Commission (EC) envisions
funding about 6-10 operations during the three-year funding
cycle. The balance of the funds will be used for capacity
building activities, including the formulation of a
comprehensive AU Peace and Security policy. Driesmans
stressed that either the AU or a sub-regional group will need
to initiate a request to withdraw funds from the APF. The EU
will only authorize expenditures if they are consistent with
UN sanctioned principles or objectives. He distinguished
between peacekeeping operations (which would require informal
UN endorsements) and peace enforcement operations (which
would require specific UN mandates). Furthermore, Driesmans
noted that the EU does not plan to fully fund any single
mission, but will favorably consider operations that have
support from other donors.

-- Use of Development Funds: Based on the premise that
development cannot take place without security, the APF peace
operations are funded with European Development Funds (EDF).
Driesmans said that the use of development funds for PKOs was
"taboo for a long time" in the EU, but that after many
deliberations a paradigm shift had been approved. Apart from
experimental funding for regional peacekeeping deployments in
Burundi (AMIB),Liberia (ECOWAS) and Cote d'Ivoire, the EC
use of development money for peace and security has been
limited to post-conflict rehabilitation.

-- African Solidarity: To share the financial burden of
peacekeeping, all AU beneficiaries of EDF (the entire
continent, minus South Africa and the Arab states of north
Africa) agreed to cede a percentage of their national
development funds to the APF. Until the EU can devise for a
formula for the other states of the continent to contribute
financially to the APF, no deployments can be made in South
Africa or northern Africa (and possibly no troops from these
countries can be selected for APF-funded deployments either).


4. (SBU) Driesmans clarified that the following APF
expenditures will be prohibited: ammunition, arms and
specific military equipment, spare parts for arms and
military equipment, military salaries and military training
for soldiers. Authorized expenses include: per diem for
African peacekeeping troops, communications equipment,
medical facilities, refurbishing civilian equipment,
transport and logistics.

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Technical Limitations
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5. (SBU) Regarding concern about budgetary and fiscal control
over the APF funds, the EC stressed that the 250 million euro
funding mechanism would be managed from Brussels and payments
disbursed as deployments are approved. To initiative a
request, the AU will engage the EC delegation in Addis Ababa
and suggest an operation. The EC will review the request and
forward it to EU Member States if the request is deemed
appropriate (i.e., has a UN mandate and meets the other
established conditions). Once the 25 EU Member States
approve, the EC will negotiate and review the budget request
submitted by the AU (this frequently involves scaling back
the requests). The EC will then develop a specific document
elaborating the parameters of the funding decision, including
the amount of financial support to be withdrawn from the APF
and the length of time the deployment would be supported,
which will be submitted to the Member States development
forum for final approval. In theory, this entire process
could be accomplished in a month. The EC plans to reinforce
its delegation in Addis Ababa to include someone with a
military background.


6. (SBU) LTC Joachim Elte of the EU Council's Military Staff
(Operations and Exercises Divisions) stressed that the APF
would complement -- not replace -- ESDP operations in Africa,
such as the 2003 deployment in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (i.e., Operation Artemis).

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APF and GPOI
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7. (SBU) At the meeting, des Roches briefed the EU on the
USG's Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI),which also
envisions strengthening peace operations in Africa.
Concluding observations remarked on the complementary nature
of the APF and GPOI, with the former focusing mainly on
deployments and the latter concentrating on longer-term
training and capacity building. Another distinction between
the two approaches was the EU's focus on a continent-wide
approach and the U.S. focus on building specific national
battalions.

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Comment
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8. (SBU) Now that the paper work is in place, the APF
peacekeeping funds can begin to flow. Sudan has been cited
as one possible venue for the inaugural use of the APF.
Another suggestion has been prolonging the AMIB deployment in
Burundi, if needed. Whether the APF could be renewed after a
three year period depends on the upcoming reformulation of
the EU budget. Nielson and other senior EC officials have
suggested folding the European Development Fund into the
general Commission budget. Unless new rules are written for
the general budget, the use of development funds for PKOs
could again be halted when current APF funds expire in 2006.

FOSTER