KEYNOTES ON EUROGENDFOR IDENTITY AND TASKS

KEYNOTES ON EUROGENDFOR IDENTITY AND TASKS

ABOUT EUROGENDFOR

WHAT IS EUROGENDFOR?
THE EUROPEAN GENDARMERIE FORCE IS A MULTINATIONAL POLICE FORCE, OPERATIONAL,
PRE-ORGANIZED, ROBUST AND RAPIDLY DEPLOYABLE, CONSTITUTED ONLY BY POLICE FORCES
WITH MILITARY STATUS OF THE PARTIES, IN ORDER TO PERFORM ALL POLICE TASKS WITHIN
THE SCOPE OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS. DUE TO ITS PECULIARITY, THE EU-
ROGENDFOR CAN PERFORM THE FULL SPECTRUM OF POLICE TASKS.
BEING ABLE TO DEPLOY SOME 800 PERSONNEL WITHIN 30 DAYS, EUROGENDFOR’S AIM IS:
TO CONDUCT POLICE MISSIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS
(CMO);
TO OFFER AN OPERATIONAL INSTRUMENT MAINLY AT THE DISPOSAL OF THE EU, IN LINE
WITH THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL IN S.M. DA FEIRA (JUNE 2000) AND
NICE (DECEMBER 2000), AND ALSO OF THE UN, OSCE, NATO, OR “AD HOC” COALITIONS;
TO FILL IN SUCH POLICE MISSIONS BOTH THE DEPLOYMENT AND THE SECURITY GAPS.

EUROGENDFOR LOGO AND MOTTO
THE EUROGENDFOR LOGO: ON A BACKGROUND OF BLUE SKY, THE CRUCIFORM SWORD
SYMBOLIZES THE FORCE, THE LAUREL CROWN THE VICTORY, AND THE FLAMING GRENADE THE
COMMON MILITARY ROOTS OF THE POLICE FORCES.
THE EUROGENDFOR MOTTO IS “LEX PACIFERAT”, WHICH MEANS “LAW WILL BRING PEACE”,
AND STRESSES THE PRINCIPLE OF THE STRICT CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ENFORCEMENT OF
THE RULE OF LAW AND THE RESTORING OF A SAFE AND SECURE ENVIRONMENT, CORNERSTONE
OF EUROGENDFOR COMMITMENT.

THE EUROGENDFOR STRUCTURES
AT STRATEGIC LEVEL, THE EUROGENDFOR
DECISION-MAKING BODY IS THE HIGH LEVEL INTER-
DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE, COMMONLY REFER-
RED TO BY THE FRENCH ABBREVIATION CIMIN
(COMITÉ INTERMINISTÉRIEL DE HAUT NIVEAU). AS
THE PRIMARY DECISION-MAKING BODY, THE COM-
MITTEE ENSURES THE POLITICAL-MILITARY COORDI-
NATION, THE POLITICAL CONTROL AND GIVES
STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS TO EGF.
EACH EUROGENDFOR MEMBER STATE IS REPRE-
SENTED IN THE CIMIN BY:
1. A HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS;
2. A HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE OR THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR, DEPENDING ON SUBORDI-
NATION OF THE NATIONAL GENDARMERIE FORCE;
3. THE GENERAL COMMANDER OR DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE GENDARMERIE FORCE.
EACH PARTICIPANT ENSURES, BY ROTATION PROCESS, THE PRESIDENCY OF THE CIMIN FOR ONE YEAR.

THE EUROGENDFOR STRUCTURES
AT OPERATIONAL LEVEL, THE PERMANENT HEADQUARTERS (PHQ), CONSISTING OF THE COMMAN-
DER AND HIS/HER STAFF, REPRESENTS THE MOST VISIBLE PART OF EUROGENDFOR, AS IT IS THE
ONLY STRUCTURE WORKING ON A PERMANENT BASIS. THE PHQ STRENGTH IS 36 MEMBERS , WITH
THE POSSIBILITY, IN CASE OF OPERATIONS, TO BE AUGMENTED UP TO 50 OR TO TEMPORARILY DIS-
PATCH PHQ PERSONNEL IN ORDER TO FACILITATE THE ESTABLISHMENT AND SET UP OF THE FORCE
HEAQUARTERS IN THE
AREA OF OPERA-
TIONS. THE EGF PER-
MANENT HEADQUAR-
TERS IS LOCATED IN
VICENZA, ITALY.

THE EUROGENDFOR STRUCTURES
AT TACTICAL LEVEL, THERE IS NO
STAND-BY (OR PERMANENTLY ASSI-
GNED) FORCE UNDER EURO-
GENDFOR COMMAND, SINCE THE
EUROGENDFOR FORCE IS GENER-
ATED ON AN AD HOC BASIS DEPEND-
ING ON THE TYPE OF MISSION THEY
ARE GOING TO BE ASSIGNED TO.
IN PARTICULAR, IT IS POSSIBLE TO DEPLOY 800 PERSONNEL WITHIN 30 DAYS, TASKED
WITH REPLACING/STRENGTHENING, TRAINING, MENTORING OR ADVISING LOCAL POLICE
FORCES.

ACCESSION TO EUROGENDFOR
CURRENT EUROGENDFOR MEMBERS:
FRANCE
Gendarmerie Nationale
ITALY
Arma dei Carabinieri
THE NETHERLANDS
Koninklijke Marechaussee
PORTUGAL
Guarda Nacional Republicana
ROMANIA
Jandarmeria Română
SPAIN
Guardia Civil
MEMBERSHIP CAN BE OBTAINED BY AN EU MEMBER
POLAND
Żandarmeria Wojskowa
STATE POSSESSING A POLICE FORCE WITH MILITARY
STATUS (GENDARMERIE FORCE).

ACCESSION TO EUROGENDFOR
PARTNERSHIP CAN BE ACHIEVED
BY EU MEMBER OR CANDIDATE
STATES POSSESSING A POLICE
FORCE WITH MILITARY STATUS BUT
WITH LIMITED POLICE POWERS.
CURRENT EGF PARTNERS:
OBSERVER STATUS CAN BE
GRANTED TO AN EU CANDIDATE
MEMBER STATE POSSESSING A
POLICE FORCE WITH MILITARY STA-
TUS.
CURRENT EGF OBSERVERS:
LITHUANIA
Viesojo Saugumo Tarnyba
TURKEY
Jandarma

CHARACTERISTICS AND CAPABILITIES
ONE OF THE MAIN FEATURES CHARACTERIZING EU-
ROGENDFOR IS THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE TOOL. IT
CAN BE PLACED UNDER EITHER MILITARY COMMAND,
IN THE CASE OF HIGH-INTENSITY CONFLICTS; OR UN-
DER CIVILIAN AUTHORITY, AND FORCES ARE ABLE TO
ACT AUTONOMOUSLY OR JOINTLY WITH OTHER FOR-
CES. CONSEQUENTLY, EUROGENDFOR IS ABLE TO
MANAGE EVERY ASPECT OF THE VARIOUS STAGES IN
CRISIS MANAGEMENT:
- IN THE INITIAL PHASE: CARRYING OUT STABILIZATION OPERATIONS AND ENSURING ORDER AND SECURITY, SUB-
STITUTING OR STRENGTHENING WEAK OR NONEXISTENT LOCAL POLICE FORCES;
- DURING THE TRANSITION PHASE: CONTINUING TO FULFILL ITS MISSION, AS PART OF A (MILITARY) EXPEDITIONARY
FORCE, FACILITATING COORDINATION AND COOPERATION WITH LOCAL OR INTERNATIONAL POLICE UNITS;
- DURING THE DISENGAGEMENT PHASE, FACILITATING SEAMLESS AND SMOOTH TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITIES
FROM THE MILITARY TO THE CIVILIAN CHAIN OF COMMAND.

THE POSSIBLE SCENARIOS OF INTERVENTION FOR EURO-
GENDFOR ARE MAINLY THE FOLLOWING:
SCENARIOS OF INTERVENTION
- SUBSTITUTION OF LOCAL POLICE FORCES TAKING PLACE IN
AN AREA WHERE THE CONFLICT HAS LED TO A SIGNIFICANT
BREAKDOWN OF THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION. THE INTER-
NATIONAL POLICE PRESENCE MAY BE MANDATED TO PER-
FORM THE FULL RANGE (OR JUST SOME) OF THE POLICE FUN-
CTIONS, THUS BEING ENTITLED TO EXECUTIVE POLICE PO-
WERS, AND SHOULD THEREFORE BE ARMED.
- STRENGTHENING OF LOCAL POLICE FORCES IN A SCENARIO
CHARACTERIZED BY A HIGH LEVEL OF INSECURITY AND CRIMI-
NALITY DUE TO THE LACK OF A PROPER RULE OF LAW SYS-
TEM. THE INTERNATIONAL POLICE OFFICERS WOULD MONITOR, MENTOR AND ADVISE AS WELL AS TRAIN THE LOCAL
POLICE IN ORDER TO RAISE THEIR PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS, CONTRIBUTING TO THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE
LOCAL POLICE ALSO THROUGH SCREENING AND VETTING PROGRAMS.
- OTHER POSSIBLE USES IN HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS IN CASE OF NATURAL OR MANMADE DISASTERS, UNSAFE
ENVIRONMENTS, LACK OF ADEQUATE INFRASTRUCTURE, INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPS) OR REFUGEES.

ADDED VALUE OF EUROGENDFOR
RAPID PLANNING AND RAPID DEPLOYMENT. CIVILIAN POLICE FORCES ARE, IN GENERAL,
NOT CAPABLE TO DEPLOY AS FAST AS GENDARMERIE TYPES. ON THE CONTRARY, EURO-
GENDFOR IS ABLE TO DEPLOY ALONGSIDE THE MILITARY IN THE FIRST STAGE OF A CRISIS
MANAGEMENT OPERATION, GENERALLY THE MOST CRITICAL, THUS FILLING THE DE-
PLOYMENT AND SECUTITY GAPS.
POSSIBILITY TO ACT UNDER A MILITARY CHAIN OF COMMAND OR UNDER CIVILIAN AUTHO-
RITY. THE POSSIBILITY TO ACT UNDER CIVILIAN AND MILITARY CHAIN OF COMMAND AND
EVEN TO ASSURE THE TRANSITION FROM THE MILITARY TO THE CIVILIAN PRIMACY IN A
CMO WILL ALLOW SYNERGY OF EFFORTS AND CONSISTENCY OF ACTION. GENERALLY CIVI-
LIAN POLICES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ACT UNDER MILITARY CHAIN OF COMMAND.
CAPABILITY TO OPERATE IN NON-BENIGN ENVIRONMENTS. GENDARMERIE FORCES HAVE
MILITARY SKILLS AND ROBUST EQUIPMENT THAT ALLOW THEM TO ACT IN DESTABILISED EN-
VIRONMENTS PERFORMING POLICE TASKS FROM THE VERY OUTSET OF A CRISIS.

EUROGENDFOR MISSIONS
PAST AND CURRENT

EUFOR ALTHEA MISSION IN BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA
FROM 22 NOVEMBER 2007 TILL 28 OCTOBER 2010, EUROGENDFOR TOOK OVER THE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR MANNING THE IPU HEADQUARTERS AND COORDINATING THE NATIONAL
EUROGENDFOR CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE INTEGRATED POLICE UNIT WITHIN THE FRA-
MEWORK OF THE EUROPEAN UNION ALTHEA MISSION IN BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA.
THE ENGAGEMENT IN EUFOR ALTHEA MISSION, WHICH REPRESENTED THE FIRST MISSION
OF EUROGENDFOR SINCE ITS CREATION IN 2004, MARKED A MILESTONE IN ITS DEVE-
LOPMENT AS A CREDIBLE AND VALID TOOL, AT THE DISPOSAL OF THE EU AND OTHER RELE-
VANT INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE FIELD OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS.

EUROGENDFOR PARTICIPATION WITHIN MINUSTAH HAITI
THE ENGAGEMENT IN MINUSTAH REPRESENTED THE FIRST MISSION OF EUROGENDFOR
UNDER THE UNITED NATIONS AEGIS. FOLLOWING THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION
NR.1908, THE EUROPEAN GENDARMERIE FORCE DEPLOYED IN HAITI ONE FRENCH AND ONE
ITALIAN FORMED POLICE UNIT (FPU), ALONGSIDE WITH THE SPANISH SPECIAL WEAPONS
AND TACTICS PLATOON, TASKED WITH SUPPORTING THE UN CIVILIAN POLICE ACTIVITIES, AS-
SISTING THE HAITIAN NATIONAL POLICE AND THE HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES AND OTHER OR-
GANIZATIONS ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE UNITED NATIONS.
EUROGENDFOR OPERATIONAL COMMITMENT IN MINUSTAH STARTED ON THE 8 TH OF FEB-
RUARY 2010, AND ENDED ON THE 3 RD OF DECEMBER 2010.

EUROGENDFOR PARTICIPATION IN AFGHANISTAN
FOLLOWING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATO TRAINING MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN (NTM-A)
DURING THE STRASBOURG-KEHL NATO SUMMIT IN APRIL 2009, EUROGENDFOR IS ENGAGED
IN THE AFGHAN THEATRE SINCE THE 8 TH OF DECEMBER 2009, PLAYING A RELEVANT ROLE IN THE
TRAINING OF THE AFGHAN NATIONAL POLICE. EUROGENDFOR IS INVOLVED IN THREE AREAS OF
COMMITMENT ON THE THEATRE:
EUROGENDFOR EXPERTS TO THE NTM-A AND CTAG-P CHAIN OF COMMAND.
MENTORING AND TRAINING ADVISORS TO THE AFGHAN NATIONAL POLICE.
MENTORINGTHE AFGHAN UNIFORMED POLICE THROUGH THE PROVISION OF POLICE ADVISORY
TEAMS (PAT’S).
AFTER THE END OF NTM-A ON 31 DECEMBER 2014, EUROGENDFOR CONTINUES ITS ENGAGEMENT
IN AFGHANISTAN WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE NEW NATO RESOLUTE SUPPORT MISSION.

EUROGENDFOR IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
THE EUROPEAN UNION MILITARY MISSION IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
(EUFOR RCA) WAS LAUNCHED ON THE 1ST OF APRIL 2014. WITHIN THIS OPERA-
TION, EUROGENDFOR IS SPECIFICALLY TASKED AND PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN STA-
BILIZING A PARTICULARLY VOLATILE AREA OF THE CAPITAL, BANGUI, BY DEPLOY-
ING A GENDARMERIE-TYPE INTEGRATED POLICE UNIT, IN ORDER TO REINFORCE THE
RULE OF LAW, TO MAINTAIN PUBLIC ORDER, AND TO FIGHT AGAINST IMPUNITY.
EUROGENDFOR FOCUSED ITS EFFORTS ON THE MISSION FROM ITS VERY ESTABLISHMENT, INCLUD-
ING THE SECONDMENT OF TWO PHQ OFFICERS TO THE EUFOR RCA OPERATIONAL HEADQUAR-
TERS IN LARISSA (GREECE) TO TAKE PART IN THE MISSION PLANNING PROCESS. ALSO, A GENDAR-
MERIE ADVISOR WAS DETACHED TO THIS OHQ, AND MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED EUROGENDFOR
POLICE OFFICERS ARE DEPLOYED IN BANGUI, COMPRISING PUBLIC ORDER AND COMMUNITY POLICING
PLATOONS, AS WELL AS CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION AND INTELLIGENCE CELLS, ALL OF WHOM ARE AC-
TIVELY CONTRIBUTING TO CREATE A SAFE AND SECURE ENVIRONMENT IN THE ENDANGERED CAPITAL.
EUROGENDFOR MISSION IN EUFOR RCA ENDED ON THE 15TH OF MARCH 2014.

EUROGENDFOR IN EUCAP SAHEL MALI
ON 15 APRIL 2014, THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL ESTABLISHED A CIVILIAN MISSION UNDER THE COMMON SECURITY AND
DEFENCE POLICY (CSDP), TO SUPPORT THE INTERNAL SECURITY FORCES IN MALI: THE EUROPEAN UNION CAPACITY
BUILDING MISSION IN MALI (EUCAP SAHEL MALI).
THE MISSION SUPPORTS THE MALIAN STATE TO ENSURE CONSTITUTIONAL AND DEMOCRATIC ORDER AND THE CONDI-
TIONS FOR LASTING PEACE, AS WELL AS TO MAINTAIN ITS AUTHORITY THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE TERRITORY. EUCAP
SAHEL MALI DELIVERS STRATEGIC ADVICE AND TRAINING FOR THE THREE INTERNAL SECURITY FORCES IN MALI
(GENDARMERIE, NATIONAL POLICE AND NATIONAL GUARD).
ON 17 APRIL 2014, THE CIMIN DECIDED TO ENGAGE EUROGENDFOR IN THE SAID MISSION, WHERE CURRENTLY 12
EUROGENDFOR EXPERTS MENTOR AND TRAIN PERSONNEL FROM BOTH THE MALIAN GENDARMERIE AND THE NATION-
AL GUARD.
EUROGENDFOR STAFF IN THE EU MISSION ARE PERFORMING HQ FUNCTIONS (THE HIGHEST BEING CHIEF OF OPERA-
TIONS), AND TRAINING IN THE POLICE ACADEMY, THE GENDARMERIE SCHOOL, AS WELL AS IN THE NATIONAL GUARD
TRAINING CENTER.

EUROPEAN GENDARMERIE FORCE
PERMANENT HEADQUARTERS
CASERMA GEN. CHINOTTO
VIA G. MEDICI 87
36100 VICENZA
ITALY
TEL: (+39) 0444/935201
FAX: (+39) 0444/935297
e-mail: noreply@eurogendfor.org
WWW.EUROGENDFOR.ORG