part 1 of the african peace facility evaluation - European ...

II.
GENERAL APPRAISAL OF THE APF
II.1 THE SUCCESS OF THE APF
The APF is considered successful by most stakeholders, particularly in funding PSOs and establishing
the AU as a serious player in peace and security issues. Its action is rooted in repeated joint
commitments by EU and AU to work together for peace in Africa, based on a legal foundation
especially Cotonou Art. 11. The APF has given the African Union political clout, with a physical and
political presence in peacekeeping that could not have been imagined ten years ago. The AU is now a
functioning organisation with major military operations, some additional experience in police and
civilian peacekeeping and mediation, and significant budgetary experience. The APF has certainly
achieved the objective of enhancing dialogue, but its achievements will be even more significant when
all the pillars of APSA are fully functioning. 13
The APF start was considered with great excitement in Europe, but even more so in Africa where AU
MS governments were delighted with the idea that they were contributing a ‘slice’ from their National
Indicative Programmes (NIP) to build the Peace and Security Architecture of AU. EU Commissioner
Poul Nielsen and AU Commissioner Said Djinnit understood the political importance of the African
‘buy-in’: African ownership felt real because 50% of the 1st APF came from African states.
Through the APF, the EU has taken political initiatives that were not even envisaged ten years ago.
This has positioned the EU as a major actor on the peace and security fields in Africa. The EU has
supplanted many of the post-colonial and bilateral processes that dominated in the 1990s, which is
both appreciated by the Africans and EU MS including some of the former colonial powers who
appreciate the European filter on peace and security issues.
The APF has also allowed the EU to experiment foreign policy initiatives and procedural mechanisms
that had never been tried before. The EEAS has the opportunity to build on this basis in Africa and
elsewhere, seeking synergies within ODA 14 funding: the APF is a seminal experiment with long-term
ramifications we cannot even begin to imagine. In a remarkably short period, the APF has changed
the face of peace and security in Africa.
APF is an instrument that provides political leverage to the AU; but some of the initial drive has
diminished as procedures sometimes took precedence over political innovation. While procedures and
internal controls are important, rules and regulations evolving in Brussels do not easily match with the
principle of African ownership and the requirements of effective delivery and value for money. AU and
REC absorptive (and management) capacities are already limited by the newness of their structures
13 ‘In order to make the APSA work, it is crucial to elaborate a forward-looking action plan on capacity-building,
including the elaboration of an innovative policy approach that looks at real African needs and provides
predictable and sustainable resources.’ Pirozzi and Miranda 2010, p3
14 The EU’s official development assistance had a total value of €49 billion in 2009, nearly €100 per citizen which
is considerably more than in the US and Japan. African countries receive €15 billion annually, the main share of
EU development assistance. European aid stands at 0.42% of gross national income (GNI), includes 3 of the 5
largest donors in the world (UK, France and Germany) and four of the five countries that exceed the UN target of
0.7% of GNI being given to development aid (Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Luxembourg). However, the EU is
not yet on its way to meet the 2015 ODA targets.
http://www.deljpn.ec.europa.eu/modules/world/human/oda/
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