Changes from plenary report to adopted text

(az) ensure a coordinated, dynamic and multilateral approach to early warning, conflict prevention and mediation between the EU and other international organisations, such as the UN, the Peacebuilding Commission, the Council of Europe, OECD and the OSCE; ensure that EU delegations continuously liaise with UN field mechanisms such as the UN Resident Coordinator on the ground when pertinent;

(ba) use diplomatic means and cooperate with multilateral platforms for peace to strengthen and consolidate anticipatory relationships before conflicts arise, especially the UN’s Peacebuilding Commission and the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, OECD’s International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding and the OSCE’s Conflict Prevention Centre;

(bb) reiterate that the EU-UN partnership should use existing resolutions and lessons learnt for conflict prevention and work together to create new policies through regular consultations and exchanges of practices; emphasise the vital role that this coordination can play for conflict prevention strategies;

(bc) welcome the UN’s New Agenda for Peace and the Peacebuilding Commission’s role and actions in human rights protection and peacebuilding efforts; propose to coordinate national conflict prevention strategies with the EEAS and their presentation on the Peacebuilding Commission’s agenda as well as stronger collaboration with the UN; note that these exchanges and better partnership with international and regional financial institutions could contribute significantly to conflict prevention in the areas of EU interest, as well as through smaller preventive missions that could assess instabilities after civilian missions withdraw from conflict-affected countries or countries with a potential risk of conflict, with a mission to remove factors that threaten security and safety;

(bd) ensure that the EU is the single largest contributor to the UN system and takes leading positions at the UN in proportion to the size of its contributions to the organisation, which cover 30 % of its costs and 33 % of the expenses for UN peacekeeping missions;

(be) use the EU’s representation at the UN headquarters in New York, Vienna, Geneva and Nairobi to actively engage with other UN member states to promote and protect the diplomatic rules-based international order founded on the UN Charter, along with a well-functioning, reformed multilateral system with an inclusive and effective UN at its core;

(bf) pursue structured information exchanges, joint horizon scanning, strategic foresight and gender-responsive conflict analyses to ensure alignment between the EU and its partners within and outside of the EU; note that these actions could potentially bring the EU closer to becoming a leading actor in conflict prevention and resolution around the world;

(bh) recognise the role of relevant regional organisations, stakeholders in Member States, like-minded partners and other involved actors including civil society and other non-governmental actors as key players in effective prevention and mediation and resolution, including women and youth, and as peace actors by using their historical relationships and individuals of distinguished record to mitigate the possible crises;

(bi) actively and inclusively engage young people in efforts and cooperation to prevent conflicts and maintain peace, and implement the EU Youth Action Plan in EU external action, which supports the implementation of the UN Youth, Peace and Security Agenda;

(bj) guarantee that EU delegations operate with a focal point on conflict prevention and peacebuilding; ensure that EU delegations, and particularly the abovementioned focal points, provide constant ground information to the EU conflict Early Warning System, the EU INTCEN and the EEAS Crisis Response Centre;

(bk) step up efforts in fighting disinformation, misinformation and foreign interference operations from malicious actors seeking to foment conflicts and polarise communities, which can lead to the destabilisation of entire regions; reinforce cooperation with like-minded partners, such as NATO, on countering disinformation, hybrid threats and foreign interference coming from non-EU countries, which represents an essential part of preventive diplomacy;

Preventive diplomacy and vulnerable or at-risk groups

(bl) recognise the specific vulnerabilities in conflict situations of at-risk groups including women, children, people with disabilities, people in jail – in particular political prisoners – human rights defenders, journalists and LGBTI people;

(bm) ensure that the EU’s preventive diplomatic efforts are sufficiently sensitised to these vulnerabilities and address the particular concerns and needs of at-risk groups;

(bn) recognise the specific vulnerabilities in conflict situations faced by non-governmental organisations on the ground, especially the ones working with at-risk populations and on sexual and reproductive rights;

Enhancing the EU's preventive diplomacy toolbox

(bo) enhance the EU’s capacity to act in situations where there are no like-minded partners in order to increase its standing and geopolitical leverage in conflict prevention and resolution, and strengthen the EU’s role as a more proactive and resilient actor in the international order;

(bp) strengthen the Peace, Stability and Conflict Prevention thematic programme of the NDICI – Global Europe instrument to enable the EU to better fund actions to promote peace, stability and conflict prevention; increase the funds available for conflict prevention under the NDICI – Global Europe thematic programme for the period until 2027, and increase the relevant administrative capacities (ISP.2) as this would reflect the profound changes to the security environment, in particular, since February 2022; swiftly implement the humanitarian-development-peace nexus (‘triple nexus’) approach in order to support conflict prevention efforts and strengthen the resilience of communities in areas affected by frozen conflicts that have varying levels of fragility, insecurity and poverty;

(bq) recall that conflict prevention cannot be instrumentalised for security and geopolitical purposes, thus risking counterproductive peace and security repercussions in the long-term;

(br) strengthen the EU’s ability to speak with one voice and to act as a truly global player in response to crises by implementing the necessary reforms to the decision-making processes;

(bs) recognise the role of EU climate diplomacy in achieving the EU’s ambition for preventive diplomacy; invest more in supporting communities globally that are on the front lines of the climate emergency, and prepare for the now unavoidable increase in extreme weather events in order to mitigate the consequent increase in the preconditions for conflict and violence; address the role of climate-related resource scarcity and natural disaster response in exacerbating conflict, and provide inclusive solutions to climate and resource-related insecurity; use the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), and in particular the inclusion of ‘Peace’ as a theme for the first time this year, as an opportunity to lead the international community in integrating and aligning diplomacy for peace and the climate;

(bt) work towards ensuring that the EU takes up a prominent leadership position in peacekeeping operations, peacemaking and mediation, conflict prevention and the strengthening of international security around the world by fostering more resilient and enduring connections with other countries through its instruments and mechanisms, such as the Global Gateway;

(bu) recall that greater focus on protecting and preserving cultural heritage after conflicts and crises can help to protect identities, develop mutual understanding and create foundations for sustainable recovery, reconciliation and lasting peace in post-conflict environments; note that these practices can lay the foundations for successful preventive diplomacy actions;

(bv) engage with the Commission, the Council and Parliament with the aim of strengthening the financial and staff resources of the EEAS, both at its headquarters and EU delegations, in order to enable the service to reinforce its preventive diplomacy capabilities, among other things, and to be better prepared to tackle current and emerging global challenges and conflicts;

(bw) deploy the Jean Monnet Dialogue, the Inter-parliamentary Dialogue and the Parliamentary Dialogue Process, which can contribute to building democratic parliamentary culture and preventing conflict in the accession countries, especially in the de-escalation of Serbia-Kosovo relations;

(bx) insist on the budgetary increase for CFSP actions and other appropriate conflict and crisis response instruments in order to fully match the EU’s activities and capabilities with current challenges and conflicts worldwide;

(by) develop a comprehensive EU strategy for preventive diplomacy that includes long-term commitment actions and initiatives for non-EU countries in conflicts; foster the development of multi-tier governance structures for non-EU countries in conflict, as well as their integration within regional organisations and structures, contributing to the removal of triggers of violence or escalation of conflict and to their sustainable resolution; take stock, in this regard, of best practices worldwide and support domestic prevention actors and mechanisms by providing the necessary political, technical and financial support;

(bz) strengthen and update the EU’s 2018 Integrated Approach to External Conflicts and Crises with special attention to conflict prevention and resolution that combines human rights promotion and protection, humanitarian, development, peacebuilding and security assistance, sanctions and diplomatic engagement, fully addressing all aspects of the conflict, including in partnership with local and international partners;

(ca) stress the need to establish a European Civil Peace Corps that brings together the expertise of institutional and non-institutional actors on conflict prevention, peaceful conflict resolution and reconciliation, with a view to making EU civilian crisis management more credible, coherent, effective, flexible and visible;

(cb) consider the use, notwithstanding the political dimension and solutions to conflicts, of litigation through an international court or tribunal, such as the International Criminal Court or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, as a method of preventive diplomacy;

(cc) step up its public diplomacy and visibility efforts and communication campaigns in order to ensure that the EU is seen as a global peace actor and a key stakeholder in preventive diplomacy and peacebuilding, including the prevention of conflicts dimension of its missions and operations, and that its actions and success stories are not undermined by false narratives spread or claimed by other global actors present in conflict regions; allocate the necessary resources to the EEAS, and particularly the Strategic Communication and Foresight division of the EEAS and EU delegations to ensure the inclusivity and coherence of their cooperation activities with partner countries;

(cd) continue to professionalise preventive diplomacy by ensuring that it is part of the training programme of the permanent structure of Parliament’s pilot project on the creation of the European Diplomatic Academy;

(ce) build on existing well-functioning cooperation mechanisms in the EU, such as the Civil Protection Mechanism and CSDP missions and operations, in order to make use of the Member States’ expertise and avoid the duplication of efforts and resources; believe that the Member States should be more involved in the identification of prevention priorities and options for action, which should lead to improved sharing and coordination among them;

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2. Instructs its President to forward this recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.