List of military and civilian missions of the European Union

Not to be confused with Diplomatic missions of the European Union.

The European Union (EU) has undertaken a number of overseas missions and operations, drawing on civilian and military capabilities, in several countries across three continents (Europe, Africa and Asia), as part of its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The operation or mission in question will work in agreement and coordination with the EU delegations, until 2009 known as the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).^[1][2]

Since 2002, the European Union has intervened abroad thirty times in three different continents.^{[citation needed][clarification needed]}

Organisation

Deployment procedure

Main article: Structure of the Common Security and Defence Policy § Deployment procedure

The decision to deploy – together with any subsequent management of – the mission or operation in question, will ultimately be taken by the EU member states in the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC).

Military operations may be launched after four planning phases, through which the Operation Commander (Op. Cdr.), Military Staff (EUMS), Military Committee (EUMC), Political and Security Committee (PSC) and Council have different roles.^[3]

Command and control structure

Further information: Command and control structure of the European Union

The EU command and control (C2) structure is directed by political bodies composed of member states' representatives, and generally requires unanimous decisions. As of April 2019:^[4]

Liaison:       Advice and recommendations       Support and monitoring       Preparatory work     

• v
• t
• e

Political strategic level:[5]

ISS

EUCO Pres. (EUCO)

Chain of command

Coordination/support

SatCen

CIVCOM

HR/VP (FAC)

INTCEN

HR/VP (PMG)

HR/VP (PSC)[6]

CEUMC (EUMC)

CMPD

DGEUMS[3] (EUMS)

Military/civilian strategic level:

Dir MPCC[3] (MPCC)

JSCC

Civ OpCdr CPCC[1]

Operational level:

MFCdr[4] (MFHQ)

HoM[1]

Tactical level:

CC[2] Land

CC[2] Air

CC[2] Mar

Other CCs[2]

Forces

Forces

Forces

Forces

¹ In the event of a CSDP Civilian Mission also being in the field, the relations with the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC) and its Civilian Operation Commander (Civ OpCdr), as well as the subordinate Head of Mission (HoM), are coordinated as shown.

² Other Component Commanders (CCs) and service branches which may be established.

³ The MPCC is part of the EUMS and Dir MPCC is double-hatted as DGEUMS. Unless the MPCC is used as Operation Headquarters (OHQ), either a national OHQ offered by member states or the NATO Command Structure (NCS) would serve this purpose. In the latter instance, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR), rather than Dir MPCC, would serve as Operation Commander (OpCdr).

⁴ Unless the MPCC is used as Operation Headquarters (OHQ), the MFCdr would be known as a Force Commander (FCdr), and direct a Force Headquarters (FHQ) rather than a MFHQ. Whereas the MFHQ would act both on the operational and tactical level, the FHQ would act purely on the operational level.

⁵ The political strategic level is not part of the C2 structure per se, but represents the political bodies, with associated support facilities, that determine the missions' general direction. The Council determines the role of the High Representative (HR/VP), who serves as Vice-President of the European Commission, attends European Council meetings, chairs the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) and may chair the Political and Security Committee (PSC) in times of crisis. The HR/VP proposes and implements CSDP decisions.

⁶ Same composition as Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) II, which also prepares for the CSDP-related work of the FAC.

Classification

An EUNAVFOR badge displayed aboard a German frigate as part of the mission titled European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) Somalia, commonly referred to as Operation Atalanta.

In the EU terminology, civilian CSDP interventions are called 'missions', regardless of whether they have an executive mandate such as EULEX Kosovo or a non-executive mandate (all others). Military interventions, however, can either have an executive mandate such as for example Operation Atalanta in which case they are referred to as 'operations' and are commanded at two-star level; or non-executive mandate (e.g. EUTM Somalia) in which case they are called 'missions' and are commanded at one-star level.

Prefixes

All CSDP missions and operations are given a prefix depending on the nature of the mission, which is either military or civilian.

Civilian missions:

•   Capacity building mission (EUCAP)
• Military advisory mission (EUMAM)
• Aviation security mission (EUAVSEC)
• Rule of law mission (EULEX)
• Mission in support of the security sector reform (EUSSR)
• Integrated rule of law mission (EUJUST)
• Mission to provide advice and assistance for security sector reform (EUSEC)
• Monitoring mission (EUMM)
• Advisory mission (EUAM)
•   Police mission (EUPOL, EUPM)
•   Border assistance mission (EUBAM)
• Police advisory team (EUPAT)

Military operations:

•   Terrestrial force (EUFOR)
•   Naval force (EU NAVFOR)
•   Training mission (EUTM)/Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM)

The operations are named as if the multinational force conducting it is established specifically for the unique operation, which is often the case. The force may however also consist of permanent multinational forces such as the European Corps.

List

Beginning	End	Name	Abbreviation	Alternative name	Personnel	OHQ
July 1991	31 December 2007	European Union Monitoring Mission in the former Yugoslavia	ECMM / EUMM	N/A	?	?
December 2002	—	Police Assistance Mission of the European Community to Albania	PAMECA	N/A	?	?
1 January 2003	30 June 2012	European Union Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina	EUPM BiH	N/A	774[5]	?
31 March 2003	15 December 2003	European Union Military Operation in the Republic of Macedonia	EUFOR Concordia	Operation Concordia	400[5]	ACO
12 June 2003	1 September 2003	European Union Military Operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo	EUFOR Artemis	Operation Artemis	1800[5]	Paris
15 December 2003	14 December 2005	European Union Police Mission in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia[lower-alpha 1]	EUPOL FYROM	EUPOL Proxima	200[5]	?
16 July 2004	14 July 2005	European Union Rule of Law Mission in Georgia[lower-alpha 2]	EUJUST Georgia	EUJUST Themis	27[5]	?
2 December 2004	—	European Union Military Operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina	EUFOR BiH	Operation Althea	600[5]	ACO
12 April 2005	30 June 2007	European Union Police Mission in Kinshasa[lower-alpha 3]	EUPOL Kinshasa	N/A	?	?
8 June 2005	2016	European Union Security Sector Reform Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo[lower-alpha 4]	EUSEC RD Congo	N/A	?	?
1 July 2005	31 December 2013	European Union Integrated Rule of Law Mission in Iraq	EUJUST LEX Iraq	N/A	?	?
18 July 2005	31 December 2007	European Union Support to African Union Mission in Sudan[lower-alpha 5]	AMIS EU Supporting Action	N/A	?	?
15 September 2005	15 December 2006	European Union Monitoring Mission in Aceh	AMM	N/A	?	?
25 November 2005	—	European Union Border Assistance Mission to Rafah	EUBAM Rafah	N/A	?	CPCC
1 December 2005	—	European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine	EUBAM Moldova and Ukraine	N/A	?	CPCC
15 December 2005	14 June 2006	European Union Police Advisory Team in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia[lower-alpha 6]	EUPAT	N/A	?	?
1 January 2006	—	European Union Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories	EUPOL COPPS	N/A	?	CPCC
12 June 2006	30 November 2006	European Union Military Operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2006)	EUFOR RD Congo	N/A	2300[5]	?
15 June 2007	31 December 2016	European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan	EUPOL Afghanistan	N/A	?	?
1 July 2007	30 September 2014	European Union Police Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo[lower-alpha 7]	EUPOL RD Congo	N/A	?	?
12 February 2008	30 September 2010	European Union Mission in Support of Security Sector Reform in Guinea-Bissau[lower-alpha 8]	EUSSR Guinea-Bissau	N/A	?	?
17 March 2008	15 March 2009	European Union Military Operation in Chad and the Central African Republic	EUFOR Tchad/RCA	N/A	3700[5]	?
1 October 2008	—	European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia	EUMM Georgia	N/A	?	CPCC
5 November 2008	—	European Union Naval Force Somalia	EU NAVFOR Somalia	Operation Atalanta	1200[5]	ES OHQ
9 December 2008	—	European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo	EULEX Kosovo	N/A	?	CPCC
10 April 2010	—	European Union Training Mission in Somalia	EUTM Somalia	N/A	100[5]	MPCC
July 2012	30 June 2024[14]	European Union Capacity Building Mission in Niger	EUCAP Sahel Niger	N/A	?	CPCC
16 July 2012	—	European Union Capacity Building Mission in Somalia[lower-alpha 9]	EUCAP Somalia	EUCAP Nestor[lower-alpha 10]	?	CPCC
February 2013	January 2014	European Union Aviation Security Mission in South Sudan[lower-alpha 11]	EUAVSEC South Sudan	N/A	?	?
18 February 2013	17 May 2024	European Union Training Mission in Mali	EUTM Mali	N/A	500[5]	MPCC
May 2013	—	European Union Integrated Border Assistance Mission in Libya	EUBAM Libya	N/A	?	CPCC
10 February 2014	23 March 2015	European Union Military Operation in the Central African Republic	EUFOR RCA	N/A	600[5]	?
April 2014	—	European Union Capacity Building Mission in Mali	EUCAP Sahel Mali	N/A	?	CPCC
December 2014	—	European Union Advisory Mission in Ukraine	EUAM Ukraine	N/A	350+	CPCC
23 March 2015	16 July 2016	European Union Military Advisory Mission in the Central African Republic	EUMAM RCA	N/A	?	?
22 June 2015	31 March 2020	European Union Naval Force Mediterranean	EUNAVFOR Med	Operation Sophia	?	ITA-JFHQ
16 July 2016	—	European Union Training Mission in the Central African Republic	EUTM RCA	N/A	?	MPCC
22 November 2017	—	European Union Advisory Mission in Iraq	EUAM Iraq	N/A	?	CPCC
31 March 2020	—	European Union Naval Force Mediterranean	EUNAVFOR Med Irini	Operation Irini	?	ITA-JFHQ
20 October 2022	19 December 2022	European Union Monitoring Capacity to Armenia	EUMCAP	N/A	40	?
17 October 2022	—	European Union Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine[19]	EUMAM Ukraine	N/A	N/A	MPCC
20 December 2022	23 January 2023	European Union Planning Assistance Team in Armenia	EUPAT Armenia	N/A	?	?
23 January 2023	—	European Union Mission in Armenia[20]	EUMA	N/A	100	?
20 February 2023	30 June 2024	European Union Military Partnership Mission in Niger[21][22][23]	EUMPM Niger	N/A	?	?
24 April 2023	—	European Union Partnership Mission in the Republic of Moldova[24]	EUPM Moldova	N/A	?	?
February 2024	—	EUNAVFOR Aspides[25]	EUNAVFOR Aspides	Operation Aspides	?	?

Proposed missions

Historical proposals

• 1 April 2011: European Union Military Operation in Libya (EUFOR Libya) – Proposed as a complement to NATO's international military intervention and no-fly zone in the Libyan Civil War.^[26]

See also

• European Union portal

Related topics of the Common Security and Defence Policy:

• Operations of the European Border and Coast Guard
• Defence forces of the European Union
• History of the Common Security and Defence Policy

Operations and exercises of the precursors of the Common Security and Defence Policy

• Missions of the Western European Union
• Exercises of the Western Union

Operations and exercises of the multinational forces made available to the CSDP in accordance with article 42.3 of the Treaty on European Union:

• List of operations of the European Maritime Force
• List of operations of the European Rapid Operational Force
• List of missions of the European Gendarmerie Force
• List of exercises of the European Maritime Force
• List of operations of the European Corps

Missions and exercises of other organisations:

• List of missions of the United Nations
• List of operations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
• List of exercises of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

Notes

1. This operation was launched on 15 December 2003 and covered an initial period of one year.
2. This mission was launched on 16 July 2004 for a duration of 12 months, and was designed to support the Georgian authorities in challenges to the criminal justice system and reform process.
3. In October 2003, the Democratic Republic of Congo requested the EU for assistance in setting up an Integrated Police Unit. EUPOL Kinshasa monitored, mentored and advised the IPU once trained and operational under a Congolese chain of command, until the national elections in DRC held in 2005. The mission finished on 30 June 2007.^[6]
4. The European Union mission is to provide advice and assistance for security sector reform in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.^[7] Among EUSEC DR Congo's projects was the 'Modernisation de l’Administration des Forces Armées de la RDC' (Modernisation of the Administration of the FARDC) underway in December 2008, under which, amongst other projects, information technology training was being delivered.^[8] It appears that in December 2009, Secretary-General/High Representative Javier Solana issued a formal invitation for the United States government to offer a contribution to EUSEC RD Congo.^{[citation needed]} EUSEC DR Congo was initially planned in 2005-06 to include eight EU advisors assigned to posts in the DRC's integrated military structure (Structure Militaire d'Integration (?)), the army general staff, the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (CONADER?), the Joint Operational Committee, and the Ministry of Defence.^[9] From 2007 to 2011 EUSEC personnel grew from 8 to 46, with about 30 locally employed staff. 34 locally employed staff were listed in 2011. In 2008 with 46 staff 26 were in Kinshasa and 20 in the eastern DRC. Two personnel have died due to illness.^[10]
5. European Union support for the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), the mission of the African Union in Darfur. NATO likewise provided support to AMIS from 2005 to 2007^[11] Both EU and NATO missions ended with the handover to UNAMID on 31 December 2007. It included provision of airlift for 2,000 personnel, financial aid totalling more than EUR 500 million, the deployment of 15 military experts, 30 police officers, two military observers with AMIS, plus several military advisors sent to Addis Ababa to support the EU Special Representative.^[12]
6. Launched on 15 December 2005 as a follow-on mission to EUPOL Proxima. The EU monitors and mentors the country's police on priority issues in the field of border police, public peace and order and accountability, the fight against corruption and organised crime. It finished its mandate in May 2006.^[6]
7. Established as a successor to EUPOL Kinshasa with an initial mandate until 30 June 2008.
8. A mission for security sector reform in Guinea-Bissau with an initial mandate until 31 May 2009. Ended due to concerns over cooperation by Guinea-Bissau.^[13]
9. EUCAP Somalia enhances the Somalia’s maritime civilian law enforcement capacity by supporting federal and regional authorities in developing legislation, strengthening the criminal justice chain in the maritime domain and providing advice on policy to the Somali ministry of internal security and the Somali Police Force.^[15][16] Since 2003, NATO has also operated its own counter-piracy mission off of the Horn of Africa as well.^[11]
10. Name of the mission prior to 1 March 2016.^[17]
11. Strengthening aviation security at Juba's airport.^[18]

References

1. European Union External Action > EU Operations
2. Benjamin Pohl (2013) The logic underpinning EU crisis management operations, European Security, 22(3): 307-325, DOI:10.1080/09662839.2012.726220, p. 311.
3. "The EU Military Staff: A frog in boiling water?". 10 August 2017.
4. EU Command and Control, p. 13, Military Staff
5. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Foreign & Commonwealth Office". GOV.UK. 27 May 2022.
7. USEC DR Congo The Council of the European Union
8. Council of the European Union, Note Technique: Projet "Modernisation de l'Administration des FARDC" Formation en Technologies d’Information au profit des Forces Armées de la RDC, November 2008
9. Sharon Wiharta, 'Peacebuilding: the new international focus on Africa,' SIPRI Yearbook 2006, Oxford University Press, p.154.
10. SIPRI Yearbook 2007-2011.
11. NATO > Current Operations and Missions
12. Brookes Tigner, JDW 9 January 2008.
13. "EU to end Guinea-Bissau security mission". BBC News. 2 August 2010.
14. "EUCAP Sahel Niger: mission prolongée jusqu'au 30 septembre 2024 avec un mandat adapté". www.consilium.europa.eu (in French). Retrieved 17 January 2023.
15. European Union External Action > EUCAP NESTOR
16. Global Governance Institute > Analysis of EUCAP NESTOR "Global Governance Institute – GGI Analysis: The Somali crisis and the EU". Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
17. "EUCAP Nestor renamed as EUCAP Somalia – New website – EUCAP Somalia". Eucap-som.eu. March 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
18. "EU".
19. "Ukraine: EU sets up a military assistance mission to further support the Ukrainian Armed Forces".
20. "Armenia: EU establishes a civilian mission to contribute to stability in border areas".
21. "Niger: EU launches its military partnership mission".
22. "EU Military Partnership Mission in Niger | EEAS".
23. "EU to end military mission to Niger by June 30". Reuters. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
24. "Moldova: EU sets up a civilian mission to strengthen the resilience of the security sector - Consilium".
25. Pugnet, Aurélie (19 February 2024). "EU launches Red Sea mission 'Aspides' to protect vessels from Houthi attacks". www.euractiv.com.
26. "European Union External Action".

External links

• List of CSDP missions
• EU Civilian and Military Missions 2003-14, London School of Economics
• PhD Thesis on Civilian CSDP – EU Civilian crisis management (University of Geneva, 2008, 441 p. in French)
• Benjamin Pohl (2013) The logic underpinning EU crisis management operations, European Security, 22(3): 307–325, DOI:10.1080/09662839.2012.726220.
• European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management