European Union’s Sahel strategy – context, guidelines and implementation
European Union’s Sahel strategy – context, guidelines and implementation

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims to explain the European Union’s Strategy for Security and Development in the Sahel, the context that it was brought in, its premise, limits and goals. It looks at the Strategy as a part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy institutional framework and at its position within the EU’s overall involvement to the Sahel region. The paper uses the actor-specific (EU) approach in this attempt, bearing in mind the nature of the EU’s foreign and security policy unique setup, its preference for exertion of normative power, focus on social development issues and problems with using military power. This strategy was developed in March 2011 under the pressure from worsening security situation in the Sahel region, specifically its western part, which developed from the local unrest as well as from the Arab Spring’s spillover effect. It will be shown how over the next two years it became the main tool of the EU’s engagement this also including the added CSDP missions and French military involvement. As the crisis worsened, bringing focus to the rebellion in northern Mali in January 2012, it required coordinated and evolved response not only from the EU but from national governments in Europe and ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries, which in turn, brought more complexity to the crisis response governance and coordination in this volatile region. While the acute crisis in the form of the armed rebellion has been quelled, it is expected that the European Union’s expertise in institutional capacity building will be able to add some stability and overall social progress to the region.

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