The Relevance of Security Sector Reform in Humanitarian Intervention: The Case of the European Union in the Mediterranean

Abstract

Security sector reform (SSR) is a new concept that was adopted by international institutions at the end of the 1990s as a relevant and critical part of development and stabilization processes. It consists of reforming the security sector in those states in which security structures are not able to protect citizens from security challenges facing developing and transitional societies. It includes a large spectrum of services and is strongly based on the abandoning of the classical conception of security as strictly connected with the territorial integrity of a state and the adoption of the broader concept of security and a security agenda that considers the well-being of populations and the respect of human rights. This article aims at analyzing the relevance of SSR in the security relations between European Union (EU) and Mediterranean countries. In the first part, a definition of SSR will be developed. In the second part, the EU's definition of SSR will be stressed, and its links with the security concept as it has been developed in EU external action. In the third part, the EU missions in Mediterranean countries will be analyzed in order to verify if SSR is included in the aims of the missions.

Keywords:

• European Union
• Mediterranean
• Security
• Security Sector Reform

Notes

1. OECD Guidelines on SSR OECD DAC Guideline on Security System Reform and Governance (2005), 20. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/8/39/31785288.pdf

2. OECD Guidelines on SSR, 2005, op. cit.,11.

3. See “Human Security Now,” Report of the UN Commission on Human Security, New York, 2003.

4. Ibid.

5. See the Conclusion of the UN Security Council, 20/02/2007.

6. The document's list is: armed forces; police; gendarmeries; paramilitary forces; presidential guards, intelligence and security services (both military and civilian); coast guards; border guards; customs authorities; reserve or local security units (civil defense forces, national guards, militias).

7. The Executive; national security advisory bodies; legislature and legislative select committees; ministries of defence, internal affairs, foreign affairs; customary and traditional authorities; financial management bodies.

8. Even if the label of this component refers to the law enforcement actors, it includes judiciary; justice ministries; prisons; criminal investigation and prosecution services; human rights commissions and ombudsmen; customary and traditional justice systems. The traditional “law enforcement agencies” are included in the first component.

9. Liberation armies; guerrilla armies; private bodyguard units; private security companies.

10. Op. cit.

11. D. Baldwin, “The Concept of Security.” Review of International Studies 23(1): 5–26 (1997).

12. J. S. Nye, Jr. and S. M Lynn-Jones, “International Security Studies: A Report of a Conference on the State of the Field.” International Security 12: 5–27 (1988); S. Walt, “The Renaissance of Security Studies.” International Studies Quarterly 35(2): 211–239 (1991).

13. B. Buzan, People, States and Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era, 2nd ed. (Boulder, CO: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1991).

14. S. Meharg and A. Arnusch, Security Sector Reform: A Case Study Approach to Transition and Capacity Building, PKSOI Papers (2010), 1.

15. On governance see, among others, R. Higgott, “The Theory and Practices of Global and Regional Governance,” European Foreign Affairs Review 10: 575–594 (2005); and F. Longo “Governance in International Relations,” in F. Longo et al., Security Identity and the Southern Caucasus, the Role of the EU, the US and Russia (Vienna: Neuer Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, 2007), 75–168.

16. Maria A. Sabiote, “New Tasks for Peace Operations? The Interlinkage between SSR and Integrated Peace Missions,” in F. Attinà and D. Irrera, eds., Multilateral Security and ESDP Operations (London: Ashgate, 2010); U. Schroeder, “EU Security Sector Reform: A Research Agenda,” in M. Britz, Ed.,The European Union and Security Sector Reform (Vallingby: Swedish National Defence College, 2007).

17. F. Attinà,“Global Power Competion and the Rise of Minilateralism in Peace Operations,” in F. Attinà and D. Irrera, eds., Multilateral Security and ESDP Operations (London: Ashgate, 2010).

18. Policy framework for security sector reform—Council conclusions, June 2006.

19. Duchêne, F. “Europe's Role in World Peace,” in R. Mayne, ed., Europe Tomorrow (London, Fontana, 1972).

20. Attinà F., La sicurezza degli stati nell'era dell'egemonia americana. (Milan: Giuffrè, 2003).

21. Ibid., 103.

22. The literature on the transformation of the concept and on the security agenda is very broad. B. Buzan, People, States and Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era, 2nd ed. (Boulder, CO: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1991) is one of the fundamental such texts. For a synthesis and extended bibliography, please see C. Monteleone, Le Relazioni Transatlantiche e la Sicurezza Internazionale (Milan: Giuffrè, 2003).

23. J. Solana, A Secure Europe in a Better World, European Security Strategy.

24. Ibid., 9.

25. The Hague Programme: Ten priorities for the next five years. The Partnership for European Renewal in the field of Freedom, Security and Justice, COM(2005)184 final, Official Journal C 236, (2005) September 24.

26. European Council, A Strategy for the External Dimension of JHA: Global Freedom, Security and Justice (Bruxelles: European Council, 2005), 14366/3/05 REV 3.

27. Brussels, 22.11.2010 COM(2010) 673 final, “The EU Internal Security Strategy in Action: Five Steps towards a More Secure Europe.”

28. JHA Council: Internal Security Strategy for the European Union, “Towards a European Security Model.” Brussels, February 23, 2010.

29. Council of the European Union (2005).

30. Ibid.

31. This article is focused on the SSR as it works in the ESDP framework. The Commission's activities and tasks on SSR are not analyzed.

32. M. Merlingen and R. Ostrauskatê, European Union Peacebulding and Policing (London: Routledge, 2006).

33. It was the civilian operation Proxima in FYROM. On this operation, see F. Longo “Il Ruolo della Politica Europea di Difesa e di Sicurezza Comune,” in A. Colombo (a cura di), L'Occidente Diviso. La Politica e le Armi (Milan: Egea Bocconi Editore, 2004), 69–101.

34. Data on ESPD operations are from the EU official site: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/eeas/security-defence/eu-operations.aspx?amp;lang=en. Data were updated July 2011.

35. In Table 1, ESPD missions are classified as SSR missions not only when the SSR is listed as an official task, but even when thhe mission's task includes one or more sectors that are listed in the definition of the SSR as it results from the official documents.

36. The countries formally defined as MNC by the EU are Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Palestinian Authority.

37. COM(2004) 373 final.

38. For the texts, see http://www.euromedinfo.eu/site.166.content.en.html

39. See http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/regional-cooperation/documents/infonotes_enpisouth_regional_cooperation_en.pdf