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European Gendarmerie Force

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European Gendarmerie Force
Coat of arms
Active2006–present
Country
7 states
Allegiance European Union[a]
TypeGendarmerie force
Size~ 800
Motto(s)"Lex paciferat" (Latin)
"The law will bring peace"
ColoursBlue[1]  
Websiteeurogendfor.org
Insignia
Flag

The European Gendarmerie Force (EUROGENDFOR) is a European rapid reaction force composed of elements of several European police and gendarmerie forces. EUROGENDFOR is tasked with performing policing tasks within the scope of crisis management operations.[2][3]

It was launched by an agreement in 2006 between five member states of the European Union (EU): France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. Romania joined in 2009; Poland in 2011.[4] Its status is enshrined in the Treaty of Velsen of 18 October 2007.[5] The headquarters are located in Vicenza, Italy.

It is presently not established at the EU level (referred to as the Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP); it is for instance not a project of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) of the CSDP. It may however contribute in the implementation of the CSDP, when made available as a multinational force in accordance with article 42.3 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).

History

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The French Defence Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie first proposed the force in September 2003. Alliot-Marie and the Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino presented the idea at the Meeting of European Union Defense Ministers in October 2003. The implementation agreement was finally signed by defence ministers of the five participating countries on 17 September 2004 in Noordwijk, Netherlands. On 23 January 2006, the EGF was officially inaugurated during a military ceremony in the Gen. Chinotto barracks in Vicenza.

EUROGENDFOR was declared fully operational on 20 July 2006, following the High Level Interministerial meeting in Madrid, Spain, and its second successful Command Post exercise (CPX), which took place between 19 and 28 April 2006. The first CPX was held at the National Gendarmerie Training Center in Saint Astier, France in June 2005.

After Romania's accession to the European Union, the Romanian Gendarmerie sought permanent observer status with the European Gendarmerie Force, as a first step towards full membership.[6] On March 3, 2009, the Romanian Gendarmerie became a full member of the European Gendarmerie Force.[7]

The Polish Military Gendarmerie was originally a partner force and, on 10 October 2006, Poland indicated it would like to join the EGF.[8] In December 2011, Poland applied for full membership in EGF,[9] which was granted in 2011.[4]

Missions

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Since December 2009, the EGF has taken part in the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) training operation of the Afghan National Police (ANP) in the War in Afghanistan. As of June 2010, 276 members of the EGF (among which 124 French gendarmes), from France, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Portugal are training the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) officers and non-commissioned officers, while the initial mission was planned to be around 400 to 500 men.[10] They are training them in ANCOP training centers but are also accompanying, advising and helping them during their missions in P-OMLT (Police Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams),[11][12] where their military experience (even if the mission is strictly speaking, civilian) will be useful. As of May 2010, it had trained 50 officers and 250 non-commissioned officers of the ANCOP, and the then French Minister of Defense Brice Hortefeux announced that 40 more French gendarmes would be sent to help this mission.[13]

In early 2010, the EGF was deployed to Haiti to help with post-relief security efforts.[14]

Relationship with EU defence policy

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The EGF has been widely misrepresented, notably with regard to its general purpose and specific relationship to the EU.[3] The EGF is not an EU body, and has no power to intervene on the soil of the EU and its Member States, including the EGF countries.[3]

The EGF is presently not established at the EU level (referred to as the Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP); it is for instance not a project of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) of the CSDP. The EGF may however contribute in the implementation of the CSDP, when made available as a multinational force in accordance with article 42.3 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).[citation needed]

Structure

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EGF members.

EUROGENDFOR is based in Vicenza, in northeastern Italy, and has a core of 800 to 900 members ready to deploy within 30 days.

An additional 2,300 reinforcements are available on standby.

Commanders

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No. Portrait Name Term of office Country Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
1 Brigadier general
Gerard Deanaz 		25 January 2005 26 June 2007 2 years, 152 days  France [15]
2 Colonel
Giovanni Truglio [it]
(born 1959) 		26 June 2007 25 June 2009 1 year, 364 days  Italy [15]
3 Colonel
Jorge Estéves 		25 June 2009 28 June 2011 2 years, 3 days  Portugal [15]
4 Colonel
Cornelis Kuijs 		28 June 2011 28 June 2013 2 years, 0 days  Netherlands [15]
5 Colonel
Francisco Esteban Pérez 		28 June 2011 26 June 2015 3 years, 363 days  Spain [15]
6 Brigadier general
Philippe Rio 		26 June 2015 27 June 2017 2 years, 1 day  France [15]
7 Colonel
Lucian Gavrilă 		28 June 2017 27 June 2019 1 year, 364 days  Romania [15]
8 Colonel
Giuseppe Zirone 		28 June 2019 24 June 2021 1 year, 361 days  Italy [15]
9 Colonel
Paulo Jorge Macedo Gonçalves
(born 1970) 		25 June 2021 27 June 2023 2 years, 2 days  Portugal [15]
10 Colonel
Hans Vroegh
(born 1964) 		28 June 2023 Incumbent 1 year, 139 days  Netherlands [16]

Members

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The treaty allows for any EU member state to become a European Gendarmerie Force member state, subject to the approval of existing European Gendarmerie Force members.[5] The member forces are:[17][18]

EU Member State Institution
 France National Gendarmerie
 Italy Carabinieri
 Netherlands Royal Marechaussee
 Poland Military Gendarmerie
 Portugal National Republican Guard
 Romania Gendarmerie
 Spain Civil Guard

Germany does not take part, as its constitution does not permit the use of military forces for police services. In 2004, Peter Struck, Minister of Defense at the time, clarified that the legal foundation for militarised police forces is different from the expectations underlying the EGF.[19] The paramilitary Bereitschaftspolizei units of the Länder states have no standing patrol order like the German Federal Police. Germany did not sign the Treaty of Velsen on the EGF or any subsequent accord.[20] Instead, there is a tight integration of police forces based on the Prüm Treaty. Originally the Prüm Treaty regulated access to police databases of neighboring countries but it was used multiple times as the legal foundation to exchange riot police equipment and personnel with the participating countries (Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, and Belgium). In 2008 the Prüm Treaty was naturalised as EU law, allowing countries access to police forces regulated under EU law (based on the Schengen Agreement). The European Police Forces Training of 2009 (EUPFT 2009) was run in Vicenza (home of EGF headquarters) and the EUPFT 2010 on anti-riot tactics was run in Lehnin in Germany.[21][22]

Partners

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EU Member State Institution
 Lithuania Public Security Service[23]

Observers

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State Institution
 Turkey Gendarmerie General Command[24]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The corps is made avalilable to the Common Security and Defence Policy in accordance with TEU, Article 42.3.

References

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  1. ^ "Logo and Symbols".
  2. ^ http://www.fiep.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/E-reader-FIEP-Seminarbook.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ a b c Arcudi, Giovanni; Smith, Michael E. (2013). "The European Gendarmerie Force: A solution in search of problems?". European Security. 22: 1–20. doi:10.1080/09662839.2012.747511. S2CID 153388488.
  4. ^ a b "European Gendarmerie Force". Żandarmeria Wojskowa. Archived from the original on 2016-04-24. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
  5. ^ a b Eurogendfor.org, Treaty establishing the European Gendarmerie Force Archived 2016-05-18 at the Wayback Machine, accessed on January 24, 2014
  6. ^ (in Romanian) Politica europeană - Forţa de Jandarmerie Europeană (European Policy - European Gendarmerie Force) Archived 2007-08-30 at the Wayback Machine, Romanian Gendarmerie website, accessed on January 22, 2009
  7. ^ Eurogendfor.eu, EGF News, accessed on March 23, 2009
  8. ^ "People's Daily Online -- Poland expresses readiness to join European Gendarmerie Force".
  9. ^ Rydzyk, made by Marcin Kuhiwczak & Piotr Makuracki (2010). "..:: Żandarmeria Wojskowa - Komenda Główna ŻW :: EGF ::." Archived from the original on 2014-12-25. Retrieved 2012-03-25.
  10. ^ (in French) Des gendarmes picards bientôt en Afghanistan Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine, Nord Éclair, 12 June 2009
  11. ^ http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/cr-cafe/09-10/c0910077.asp (French) report from the commission on Foreign matters of the French Parliament
  12. ^ http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_la_une/toute_l_actualite/affaires-europeennes/gendarmes-en-afghanistan/view Archived 2011-12-02 at the Wayback Machine (French), "Gendarmes in Afghanistan", French Internals affairs Ministry website
  13. ^ http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_la_une/toute_l_actualite/affaires-europeennes/deplacement-afghanistan/view Archived 2011-12-01 at the Wayback Machine (French) "Brice Hortefeux honours the contribution of French policemen and gendarmes to the Afghan police training", French Internals affairs Ministry website
  14. ^ "European gendarmes to beef up Haiti security". euronews. 2010-01-25. Archived from the original on 2012-01-26. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Former EUROGENDFOR Commanders". eurogendfor.org. EUROGENDFOR. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Commander". eurogendfor.org. EUROGENDFOR. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Members". European Gendarmerie Force. Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
  18. ^ "Treaty between the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Italian Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Portuguese Republic, establishing the European Gendarmerie Force EUROGENDFOR". Government of the Netherlands. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  19. ^ "Des gendarmes européens en renfort", 17/09/2004
  20. ^ DerStandard.at, Welche Befugnisse hat die Europäische Gendarmerietruppe?, accessed on February 20, 2016
  21. ^ "Von Vicenza nach Lehnin" Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, Bundespolizei kompakt (German federal police journal), February 2010
  22. ^ Monroy, Matthias (24 May 2010). "Bundespolizei lädt zum Häuserkampf".
  23. ^ "Partners". European Gendarmerie Force. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  24. ^ "Observers". European Gendarmerie Force. Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
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