EULEX-TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED EXIT STRATEGY: Strengthening the rule of law through EU integration Policy Report No. 05/2014
Publisher: Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS), Kosovo Date: April 2014 Volume: 43 pages, pdf Description This study, jointly prepared and written by the Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS), Prishtina, and the Democratization Policy Council (DPC), Washington-Berlin, takes a thorough look into EULEX‘s past mistakes and future opportunities. It looks into the ongoing review process of EULEX‘s current mandate and the decision-making process of the EU on the mission‘s future mandate. In that context it particularly examines the linkage between that debate and two recent developments – the Prishtina-Belgrade dialogue and the initiated integration of the north of Kosovo and the impact of the EU-integration process on the Rule of Law and the judiciary in Kosovo. The first and second chapters deal with the challenges of establishing the rule of law in Kosovo and EULEX‘s performance in the past. The third chapter analyses the review of the EULEX mandate and decision-making process on the future mission ongoing within the EU. The fourth chapter takes a brief comparative look at the phasing out of international judges and prosecutors in Bosnia-Herzegovina as a lesson to be learned for the future transition of EULEX. In the concluding section the authors lay out an alternative proposal for the future EULEX mission that is guided by one of the key demands from the European Court of Auditors‘ report – to design an exit strategy for EULEX integrated into the wider EU-toolbox available to promote the rule of law and thus make EULEX‘s achievement sustainable. The study aims to inform the ongoing debate within the European Union on the future of EULEX as well as to promote a debate in Kosovo on the challenges of strengthening the rule of law. The study is based on the analysis of public and non-public sources and on a large number of interviews conducted with EULEX and other EU officials, European and other Western diplomats and officials and other relevant actors in Kosovo. Interviews were conducted in Kosovo, Serbia, Brussels, Berlin and London.