African Peace Facility undergoing several reviews

Earlier this week, the European Commission published the 2010 annual report on the activities of the EU-funded African Peace Facility (APF). The APF was created in 2004 as an innovative instrument for EU support to African-led peacekeeping operations on the African continent. It has received EURO 740 million since its inception. For the past two years the APF operates under an enlarged scope that includes pre-conflict and post-conflict phases. One noteworthy innovation of the APF mentioned in the report is the Early Response Mechanism under which the EC funded several mediation operations in 2010 including the AU High Level Implementation Panel on Sudan. Another innovation is the Joint Salaries Financing Agreement that was set up to ensure harmonised and predictable funding of human resources, an area that has been problematic in the past. What remains unchanged is the fact that the bulk of funding continues to go to operations in Somalia (AMISOM). Two further evaluations are forthcoming: a review of the funding sources and procedures (this was due to be finalised at the end of March 2011) and an evaluation of the overall implementation and results of the APF. The results of these studies are meant to inform upcoming decisions on the replenishment of the APF, with a reserve of 300 million which is likely to be mostly allocated to AMISOM, and on the overall EU budget’s next multiannual financial framework. Simultaneously, a review process of the legal instruments of European external action is going to be conducted. Thus in this context, questions on the future of the APF, in terms of where funding should come from and which instruments are suitable and politically feasible, is likely to be on the agenda.