CLEER Working Papers 2010/5

EULEX Kosovo – Mandate, Structure and Implementation: essential clarifications for an unprecedented EU mission

Martina Spernbauer

Embedded in the wider context of the European Union police missions in the Western Balkans, the present article provides for the first in-depth analysis of the justice and police components of EULEX Kosovo, the most complex civilian crisis management mission of the European Union to date. Following an appraisal both of the internationalized process which lead to the adoption of the Council Joint Action and of the challenges surrounding the mission’s eventual deployment, the article examines in detail the mission mandate, its programming strategy and issues of implementation on the ground. It is demonstrated that EULEX Kosovo provided ample opportunity to better conceptualize the non-executive functions of Monitoring, Mentoring and Advising. At the same time, the combination, albeit necessary, of the executive and the non-executive mandate - which plays out differently in the justice and the police components – has increased the complexity of the mission.