In support of the restoration or establishment of the rule of law (RoL) in crisis and post-crisis contexts, assistance to justice and security sector reform (JSSR) has been at the core of EU and UN peace operations for more than a decade, and will continue to be a major task for both organizations in the coming years. However, there is still no clear joint strategic or operational approach to JSSR. Instead, both organizations have often deployed parallel missions to the field on the basis of ad hoc coordination during planning phases and on the ground. There is a growing need for complementary and effective JSSR support in light of the major challenges facing concurrent EU and UN deployments in Libya, Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR).
EU-UN cooperation has evolved significantly since the establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS) in 2010. With the implementation of the EU Plan of Action for CSDP Support to UN Peacekeeping from July 2012 until the end of 2014, as well as the recent adoption of the UN guidelines on Coordination between the UN and the EU during the planning of UN missions and EU civilian missions and military operations in April 2014, both organizations are striving for closer forms of cooperation.
