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This contribution increases the understanding of the EU's role in post-conflict settings by exploring perceptions of EULEX by local rule of law experts. Drawing on critical peacebuilding and the decline of normative power Europe literatures, we develop an analytical framework, underlining the importance of the intention–implementation gap and the implementation–perception gap in understanding how EU missions are perceived. By comparing local expert narratives to those of EULEX judges, prosecutors, and legal officers, we contend that the core problem for the negative perception of the mission results from what we call the double proximity paradox in peacebuilding. The first paradox is one of implementation and transpires when an actor commits substantial resources to address structural problems in a post-conflict territory due to its centrality for its own interests, but fails to uphold its commitment as its immediate interests can only be achieved through agents who contribute to these problems. The second paradox relates to perception and transpires as high commitments raise expectations of structural impact. The visibility of the actor's investment makes any implementation failures more tangible. The actor is therefore, paradoxically, the most open to criticism in a territory where it is doing the most. ; The double proximity paradox in peacebuilding: implementation and perception of the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo

This contribution increases the understanding of the EU's role in post-conflict settings by exploring perceptions of EULEX by local rule of law experts. Drawing on critical peacebuilding and the decline of normative power Europe literatures, we develop an analytical framework, underlining the importance of the intention–implementation gap and the implementation–perception gap in understanding how EU missions are perceived. By comparing local expert narratives to those of EULEX judges, prosecutors, and legal officers, we contend that the core problem for the negative perception of the mission results from what we call the double proximity paradox in peacebuilding. The first paradox is one of implementation and transpires when an actor commits substantial resources to address structural problems in a post-conflict territory due to its centrality for its own interests, but fails to uphold its commitment as its immediate interests can only be achieved through agents who contribute to these problems. The second paradox relates to perception and transpires as high commitments raise expectations of structural impact. The visibility of the actor's investment makes any implementation failures more tangible. The actor is therefore, paradoxically, the most open to criticism in a territory where it is doing the most. ; Publisher PDF ; Peer reviewed

Here we have studied the international circumstances that have affected the deployment of the EULEX Mission in Kosovo. The EULEX mission is the European Union Mission for the Rule of Law in Kosovo. Its main goal is to advise, assist and support the Kosovo authorities in issues of the rule of law, especially in the field of police, judiciary and customs performance. Also this mission has the responsibility to develop and further strengthen the independent multi-ethnic justice system in Kosovo, by ensuring that the rule of law institutions are not politically influenced and that they meet the known international standards and best European practices. This mission was foreseen to be deployed to Kosovo, based on the Ahtissari Comprehensive Status Proposal for Kosovo, but due to its non-approval by the UN Security Council, its full implementation was delayed until December 2008. EULEX acts within the framework of Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council and under a single chain of command in Brussels. EULEX officials have supported Kosovo Police, the Judiciary system and Kosovo Customs, through MMA actions for achieving objectives and goals that are foreseen by the program strategy of EULEX. But in terms of efficiency, EULEX has only achieved modest results. In the northern part of Kosovo, EULEX has failed, as a result of its ambivalent mandate and incoherence of EU Foreign and Security Policy.

This article examines local contestation against the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), manifesting itself in local actors publicly demanding a change in the mission's mandate and/or its operations. The article investigates how EULEX's actions and its effectiveness are perceived and reacted upon by the local actors. It shows that local contestation is mainly fueled by (1) conflicting sovereignty claims by the majority Albanians and the minority Serbs; (2) the understanding of sovereignty by parts of society as entailing exclusive authority; and (3) dissatisfaction with the mission's effectiveness. By addressing EULEX from a bottom-up perspective—that of the local actors—the article underlines the limitations of EU policies in post-conflict Kosovo.

AbstractThe article discusses the projection of European Union (EU) power under conditions of contested statehood in its 'near abroad'. Using the EU's mission in Kosovo (EULEX) as a case study, the article unpacks the various levers of external EU influence and explores the conditions under which European policy‐makers become entangled in the 'existential discourse' of highly polarized societies with competing statehood claims. The contestation of these claims (both domestically and internationally) produces significant challenges for EU actorness, affecting both self‐ascribed (internal to the EU) and external (amongst the EU's interlocutors) aspects of EU presence, which, in turn, shapes the EU's ability to deploy and co‐ordinate its capabilities on the ground. It is by reference to this 'presence–capabilities' nexus that this article seeks to conceptualize the limitations of the planning and early deployment of EULEX in Kosovo.

The chapter examines the efforts of the EU civilian missions deployed in BiH (EUPM) and Kosovo (EULEX) to advance the consolidation of state-building and the establishment of the rule of law. It tries to map out and assess their track record, with a view to shed light on successes and deficiencies. It argues that the more focused and well specific the activities taken up by the two missions have been, the more efficient and rewarding have been the results delivered on the ground. Equally important, the two missions have proved able to smoothly work to the benefit of their operational objectives whenever they have both stayed tuned with local interests and streamlined their practices with other EU policies active in the region.

Abstract this article evaluates the planning process and initial implementation of the rule of law mission of the european union in kosovo (eulex). It shows that the original intention was to have a smaller presence than the predecessor united nations mission in kosovo (unmik). Yet as a result of a lack of settlement on the international status of kosovo, the european union ended up with a robust mandate and it was unable to make a fresh start in order to distinguish itself from the united nations. Eulex has, nonetheless, successfully established itself, but it remains too early for a final judgment.