Improving European policy towards fragile states

As global attention focuses on the financial crisis and Arab revolutions, fragility appears to be slipping down Europe’s agenda. Important processes aimed at addressing fragility have stalled, with the European External Action Service (EEAS) shelving the Action Planon Fragility and Conflict (Action Plan) and the review of the Gothenburg Programme on conflict prevention (Gothenburg Review). However, recent events from Somalia to Pakistan demonstrate that addressing fragility remains critical. Indeed, it is possible that through better preventative action on fragile states the European Union (EU) could have avoided some of the acute challenges it now faces in Libya and Syria. While High Representative Ashton has stressed that conflict is a policy priority, in practice the EU needs a stronger and broader approach to fragility in order to meet its security and development aims.