Council Decision 2011/621/CFSPShow full title

Article 3 Mandate

In order to achieve the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)/Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) aspects of the objectives referred to in Article 2, the mandate of the EUSR shall be to:

(a)

strengthen the overall EU influence in, and coordination of, the Addis Ababa-based dialogue with the AU and its Commission, on the whole range of CFSP/ESDP issues covered by the EU-AU relationship, in particular the Peace and Security Partnership and support to the operationalisation of the African Peace and Security Architecture;

(b)

ensure an appropriate level of political representation, reflecting the importance of the EU as a political, financial and institutional partner of the AU, and the step change in that partnership necessitated by the growing political profile of the AU on the world stage;

(c)

represent, should the Council so decide, EU positions and policies, when the AU plays a major role in a crisis situation for which no EUSR has been appointed;

(d)

help achieve better coherence, consistency and coordination of EU policies and actions towards the AU, and contribute to enhance coordination of the broader partner group and its relation with the AU;

(e)

contribute to the implementation of the EU human rights policy relevant to the AU, including the EU Guidelines on human rights, in particular the EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict as well as on violence against women and girls and combating all forms of discrimination against them, and the EU policy on Women, Peace and Security;

(f)

follow closely, and report on, all relevant developments at AU level;

(g)

maintain close contact with the AU Commission, other AU organs, missions of African Sub-regional organisations to the AU and the missions of the AU Member States to the AU;

(h)

facilitate the relations and cooperation between the AU and African Sub-regional organisations, especially in those areas where the EU is providing support;

(i)

offer advice and provide support to the AU upon request in the areas outlined in the Joint Africa-EU Strategy;

(j)

offer advice and provide support upon request to the building up of the AU's crisis management capabilities;

(k)

on the basis of a clear division of tasks, coordinate with, and support, the actions of EUSRs with mandates in AU Member States/Regions; and

(l)

maintain close contacts and promote coordination with key international partners of the AU present in Addis Ababa, especially the United Nations, but also with non-State actors on the whole range of the CFSP/CSDP issues covered by the EU-AU partnership.