European Institute of Peace could finally become a reality

The initiative for the establishment of a European Institute of Peace is gaining momentum. Among the driving forces behind the project is Franziska Brantner. She has launched a pilot project for the European Institute of Peace in the European Parliament, whose preliminary results are now on the table.

A European Institute of Peace could facilitate mediation and informal diplomacy and serve as a hub for exchanging experience and transferring knowledge of EU mediators and EU peace missions. The institute should have close links to EU institutions but be formally independent. Its autonomy would allow the institute to engage in conflicts in which the hands of the European Union are tied for political reasons (for example, in northern Kosovo, Abkhazia and Northern Iraq). The added value of the peace institute would therefore be first of all its opportunity to act more flexible, innovative and independent than traditional EU diplomacy.

A European Institute of Peace could serve as a hub for mediators and peace experts from the European Union, its Member States, other countries and civil society. It should thereby ensure that the experiences and expertise of EU peace missions are evaluated and handed over – something the existing internal mechanisms of the EU fail to ensure.

It is important that the peace institute does not duplicate or weaken existing structures within the European External Action Service. It should rather be responsible for those tasks that are not taken care of within the official EU structures. The peace institute and the European External Action Service should complement and reinforce each other. Similarly, a European Institute of Peace should not take on tasks that are already efficiently dealt with by NGOs, academic institutions or existing governmental organization. The peace institute would rather have a finite size and slim structure. It would access the expertise of these institutions, if need be.

As part of the pilot project initiated by Franziska Brantner and the chairman of the budget committee, Alain Lamassoure, a feasibility study (PDF) was drawn up over the past months and submitted to Parliament at the end of October. It examines possible tasks and structures of a European peace institute and propose different courses of action. It also examine possible costs. The study’s authors propose to strengthen existing structures inside the European External Action Service as well as to create a lean European Institute of Peace.

Following an initiative of Franziska Brantner, the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament has already addressed the issue on 20 September 2012. In addition to a debate in the committee, a workshop (programme (PDF), video recording) with high-level participants was organized. Sweden’s foreign minister Carl Bildt, who had launched and promoted the idea of a European Institute of Peace a few years ago, was key-note speaker. He was joined in the workshop by experts and representatives from the European Parliament, the European External Action Service, national foreign ministries and civil society. Franziska Brantner moderated the event.

Based on the results of the pilot project and the feasibility study, the peace institute initiative will be pushed forward in the coming months. The European Parliament’s budget committee already agreed to create a legal basis which would allow to partly fund a European Institute of Peace from the EU budget. Now, the next step must be to obtain the support for the project of a critical mass of EU member states. Additionally, further public consultations and conferences are planned.

Related Links:
Article on the European Institute of Peace in the European Voice on 27.09.2012
Discussion paper on the European Institute of Peace by MedietEUr (PDF)