Strengthening capabilities for integrated peace engagement – Key points on civilian planning objectives

In order to make civilian peacebuilding more effective in the face of increasing and ever more complex crises, clearly defined, quantitative targets and timeframes are required. The call for such civilian planning targets – promoting the systematic, needs-based and impact-oriented development of civilian conflict management capabilities – has been confirmed against this backdrop of crisis escalations in and around Europe and the EU’s new Civilian CSDP Compact (2023) (with the upcoming National Implementation Plans). However, the intention to define quantitative personnel capacity targets for sub-capabilities in the sense of a national strategy-oriented and binding ‘level of ambition’ has so far only been implemented to a limited extent.

In line with the announcement in the coalition agreement of 2021 to deploy more specialist personnel for civilian crisis prevention and management, the correlating statements in the National Security Strategy and in addition to the EU Compact 2.0, the Federal Government’s Advisory Board on Civilian Crisis Prevention and Peacebuilding recommends clearly defined, quantitative targets and timeframes. To this end, the Advisory Board identifies areas of need and action in this statement, which are based on the guidelines “Preventing crises, managing conflicts, promoting peace”, the EU Compact 2.0 and the Federal Foreign Office’s “Concept for an integrated peace engagement” from 2022.