To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of EU work to train Afghan police; what arrangements there are to co-ordinate the work of the EU and (a) individual EU member states and (b) the US on such training; what the (i) short, (ii) medium and (iii) long-term objectives of the EU’s work are; and what the (A) criteria and (B) timescale are for ending the work in the future. (191069)

EU support for training the Afghan police is co-ordinated through the EU Police Mission to Afghanistan (EUPOL). EUPOL brings together contributions from EU member states, various non-EU states, and the EU Secretariat and Commission. The aim of this co-ordinated support is to establish an effective and self-sustaining civilian police force in Afghanistan. As EUPOL works to reach full strength, progress has been made on planning its programme and in developing an international consensus on a policing strategy for Afghanistan.

EUPOL co-ordinates its work with the Combined Security and Transition Command—Afghanistan, which is responsible for delivering the US programme of police training, through the International Police Co-ordination Board.

The objectives of the EUPOL mission are set out in its Concept of Operations (CONOPS), dated 30 October 2007:

“To assist the Afghan police in training, institutional reform and capacity building; to support the institutional development of the Ministry of the Interior; to work towards a joint overall strategy for the international community in police reform in Afghanistan; and to improve cohesion and co-ordination amongst international actors in the area of police training in Afghanistan”.

Detailed milestones are contained in the mission’s internal action plan.

The head of the EUPOL mission reports formally every six months to the EU Political and Security Committee on the mission’s progress.

The CONOPS states that EUPOL’s mission will conclude:

“When there is sufficient local capacity in the Afghan police to continue self-sustaining progress towards building and maintaining a civilian police service that is both transparent and accountable, operating within a sound legal framework in accordance with international standards and the rule of law and which is trusted by Afghan citizens and is responsive to the needs of society”.

The EUPOL mission has a mandate until June 2010.