Debriefing EU Mediators: Summary and key lessons from a debriefing with the former EUSR for the Great Lakes Region, Roeland van de Geer December 2012 European Forum for International Mediation and Dialogue About mediatEUr mediatEUr’s goal is to support the peaceful transformation of armed conflicts within and between states by promoting the use of effective methods of conflict resolution, dialogue and mediation. mediatEUr brings together a network of proven and qualified mediators and experts. We support professionals and policy makers working in this field with the latest tech- niques and methodologies, drawing on sound knowledge of the field. We work in particular to help the EU develop its capacities to support successful peacemaking across the world. mediatEUr is ideally placed to deliver, as we combine expertise in mediation, peace processes and transitional justice with a solid understanding of EU affairs. To find out more about our work, please visit www.themediateur.eu. Acknowledgments This report was authored by Canan Gündüz and Eugène van Kemenade, with con- tributions from Antje Herrberg. The team is grateful to participants at the debriefing seminar for their insights and nuanced questions which added significantly to the de- briefing process. Antje Herrberg and Roeland van de Geer provided several rounds of peer-reviewing which improved the content of the report. The mediatEUr team thanks Roeland van de Geer for the time, attention and open- ness he gave to this debriefing exercise – including not only the actual debriefing itself, but numerous preparatory conversations and subsequent work with the team on drafting the debriefing report. While Ambassador van de Geer provided inputs on the content of this report, mediatEUr assumes full responsibility for the accuracy of the content, as well as any omissions or errors. Recommendations and key lessons drawn are our own. Debriefing EU Mediators: Summary and key lessons from a debriefing with the former EUSR for the Great Lakes Region, Roeland van de Geer Debriefing EU Mediators Table of Contents List of Acronyms 3 Background: Debriefing EU Mediators 4 Lessons Learned from the Debrief 5 1. “Who are you, Mr. van de Geer?” 7 2. The Context: A Region at War 8 3. Embarking on the Assignment 9 3.1. The Official Mandate – Letter and Spirit 9 3.2. Starting Up 10 3.3. Building a Team 11 4. “We have to break up the conflicts into parts that we can address”: The Anatomy of an Unfolding Mediation Process 12 4.1. Analysing and Deconstructing the Great Lakes 12 Conflicts to Design a Strategy 4.2. Building Momentum and Starting to Engage 13 4.3. Coming to Agreements 14 4.4. The Post-agreements Phase 16 5. Working with EU Institutions 18 5.1. Relations with Member States 18 5.2. Working with Heads of Delegations and Heads of Missions in Country 18 5.3. Coordinating EU Institutions 19 6. The Role of the EU and the EUSR in the Great Lakes 21 Peace Processes: Actor or Spectator? 7. Preparing EUSRs for their Assignments 24 8. Conclusions: What Makes a Good Mediator? 25 Annex 1 – List of EUSR Mandates 28 Annex 2 – List of Special Envoys for the Great Lakes Region 29 Annex 3 – List of peace agreements signed during the EUSR’s mandate 30 Figures and tables Table 1: List of EUSR team members 11 Table 2: Summary of Peace Agreements, Role of EUSR, and Status of 15 Implementation Figure 1: Regional and Thematic Priority Areas in the EUSR’s Strategy 13 2 mediatEUr List of Acronyms AU African Union CEPGL Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries CHA Cessation of Hostilities Agreement CNDP National Congress for the Defence of the People DDR Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration DEVCO Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation DRC Democratic Republic of Congo EAC East African Community ECHO European Community Humanitarian Office EEAS European External Action Service EIP European Institute of Peace ESDP European Security and Defence Policy EU European Union EUPOL EU Police Missions EUSEC EU Mission to Provide Advice and Assistance for Security Sector Reform EUSR European Union Special Representative FARDC Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo FDLR Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda FNL National Liberation Front GBV Gender-based Violence HoD Head of Delegation HoM Head of Mission ICGLR International Conference on the Great Lakes Region LRA Lord’s Resistance Army MONUC United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo NGO Non-governmental Organisation PolAd Political Advisor PSC Political and Security Committee RELEX Directorate-General for External Relations SADC Southern African Development Community SSR Security Sector Reform STAREC Stabilisation and Reconstruction Plan for Eastern DRC UN United Nations US United States 3 Debriefing EU Mediators Background: Debriefing EU Mediators The European Union (EU) is becoming increasingly active as a global peacemaker, supporting peace processes and also directly mediating between conflict parties in several instances. Given this commitment, it is important to create systems that can enable synthesis and management of the knowledge gained and learning from these engagements. This can further strengthen the EU’s efforts in peace mediation in other parts of the world. The aim of this new publication series is to analyse and then present key practice and policy lessons through the work of EU mediators. This debriefing report is based on: n A structured, 45-minute debriefing by an appointed debriefer (Antje Herrberg) based on good practice in mediation supervision. n A consequent facilitated discussion with regional and peace mediation experts at a debriefing seminar to offer further points of inquiry and help synthesise learning collectively. n A drafting, editing and peer-review process by a team of authors present at the debriefing. n A subsequent editing and reviewing process with Roeland van de Geer to further refine and nuance the points synthesised in this report. This effort forms part of mediatEUr’s wider work on developing building blocks for a European Institute of Peace, funded by the Swedish and Finnish Ministries of Foreign Affairs. The aim of this project is to assist in the creation of a framework for a European Institute of Peace (EIP). One of the building blocks for a future EIP can be precisely this type of knowledge gathering and management from EU mediators’ experiences. Objectives of the Series 1. To generate insights on EU peace mediation lessons and challenges in specific regions through an interactive and systematic debriefing of EU mediators. 2. To produce broader, relevant insights for peace mediation both within and beyond the EU. 3. To produce a toolkit which systematises debriefings with EU mediators in the future, based on existing debriefing good practice and experiences gathered by the project. This report is based on the recording of the debriefing exercise; information obtained from discussions with Roeland van de Geer; notes from the seminar; further subsequent discussions with the former European Union Special Representative (EUSR). As such, it reflects Roeland van de Geer’s own perceptions and points of view, with the exception of the ‘Key Lessons’ section, which was synthesised by the mediatEUr team. 4 mediatEUr Lessons Learned from the Debrief EUSRs with regional mandates can provide leverage and political clout to the EU to act more effectively in conflict management and resolution: As Roeland van de Geer’s experience shows, EUSR engagement can and should take place at all stages of the conflict cycle: from early engagement to post-conflict transitions. Whilst in early stages of conflict and during crisis situations a loosely-formulated mandate can provide a sufficient amount of flexibility of engagement for the EUSR, at later stages of transition and follow up to peace agreements less ambiguous and more strongly-worded mandates may be more effective. EUSRs should not be seen purely as ‘crisis management tools’: The EU should consider instituting EUSRs as more ‘permanent’ agents, rather than giving time-limited mandates, particularly in regions with long-standing conflicts and periodic outbreaks of violence. In the Great Lakes, a relative ‘lull’in conflicts towards the end of Ambassador van de Geer’s mandate led the EU to decide not to renew the EUSR mandate. This turned out to be problematic given the subsequent re-escalation of the conflicts and led to the loss of much political capital built up throughout the period of the EUSR’s presence in the Region. Therefore, EUSRs should outlive short-term ‘crisis’ moments and become stable interlocutors for prevention to avoid further outbreaks of conflicts. EUSRs can provide diplomatic leverage and access to bilateral and EU diplomats within the system: As Roeland van de Geer’s constructive collaboration with in-country Ambassadors throughout the Region illustrates, both the EUSR and the Ambassadors stand to benefit from a proactive and constructive relationship: EUSRs can provide access and raise issues which their in-country counterparts potentially cannot. Member State and EU Ambassadors, in turn, can ensure continuity for EUSRs’ work in their absence, and provide much-needed logistical support. Playing a high-profile role in peace efforts needs to be matched with a commitment to implementation and monitoring: The experience in the Great Lakes Region shows that, while the EU, alongside other international actors, has played a significant role in the negotiation of several agreements, its subsequent role in supporting their implementation and providing support to security and monitoring has tailed off and not maximised its potential. The EU’s considerable financial aid to the Region in this instance was not matched by the political clout to follow up on the agreements supported. Deconstructing the assignment into manageable parts: EUSR mandates tend to be broad in scope and ambition. Coupled with complex regional conflict dynamics, such ambitious mandates can seem almost unmanageable for a mediator stepping into the position.