Rose Conway-Walsh
Question:51. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on Ireland signing up to the proposed European peace facility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29131/20]
View answerThursday, 26 November 2020
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The European Peace Facility, EPF, is a proposed new funding instrument, which is currently under negotiation by Member States. It is designed to provide the EU with a financing mechanism for a range of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) actions.
The European Council agreed the EPF’s broad parameters in June 2020, including an overall financial ceiling of €5 billion over the seven years of the next MFF. As the EU budget cannot finance operations with military or defence implications, the EPF will be off-budget, incorporating two existing off-budget mechanisms; the Athena Mechanism and the African Peace Facility.
The first of these, the Athena mechanism, funds common costs for EU-led military crisis management missions. Ireland contributes personnel to three of these missions, all of which are authorised by the UN. The UN increasingly relies on regional organisations, including the EU and the African Union (AU), to carry out peacekeeping operations and crisis management missions mandated by the UN Security Council. For example, the AU leads the UN-mandated mission in Somalia, Amisom, which itself is largely funded by the EU through the African Peace Facility, which will also be incorporated into the EPF.
The EPF will provide continuity while also supporting new initiatives, including allowing EU financing of peace support operations outside Africa. In certain circumstances - and with strong safeguards - funding from the EPF may be utilised for military equipment, including equipment designed to deliver lethal force. Ireland has made clear from the start of the negotiations that we will not fund assistance measures which include lethal weapons. This reflects our Programme for Government commitment that ‘Ireland will not be part of decision making or funding for lethal force weapons for non-peacekeeping purposes.’
Ireland will continue to engage actively in negotiations on the design of the EPF to ensure both the inclusion of strong safeguards for any provision of military equipment and that Member States can abstain from funding the provision of lethal weapons.