Council Decision (CFSP) 2017/1102 of 20 June 2017 amending Decision 2014/219/CFSP on the European Union CSDP Mission in Mali (EUCAP Sahel Mali)

1 A Regional Coordination Cell (RCC) shall be established within EUCAP Sahel Mali.

2 The RCC shall be based at EUCAP Sahel Mali's Headquarters in Bamako. It shall include the staff collocated with EUCAP Sahel Mali and the Internal Security and Defence Experts (ISDE) located in the Union Delegations to Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger.

3 The objectives of the RCC, in close cooperation with existing CSDP Missions in the Sahel, shall be: (a) to contribute to the Union's situational awareness of G5 Sahel countries' security and defence needs and gaps which pertain to regional cross-border cooperation and which deal with security challenges, with a view to the development of a CSDP Regional Implementation Plan that will make recommendations for any subsequent phases; (b) to facilitate the organisation of training courses by Union CSDP Missions in the Sahel for G5 Sahel countries security and defence trainees.

4 The ISDE shall collect information related to security and defence matters in their host countries. They shall provide such information and, where appropriate, make recommendations to the Head of the RCC. They shall keep the Head of the Union Delegation in the place where they are located duly informed.

5 The Civilian Operation Commander shall exercise strategic command and control of the RCC, under the political control and strategic direction of the PSC and overall authority of the HR. By way of derogation from Article 6(1), the Head of the RCC shall be directly responsible to the Civilian Operation Commander and shall act in accordance with the instructions given by him. The Head of the RCC shall issue instructions to all RCC staff.

6 The Head of Mission shall exercise authority over RCC staff in application of Article 6(2) to (4), and Article 11. As regards ISDE, this is without prejudice to paragraph 7 of this Article.

7 EUCAP Sahel Mali shall enter into the necessary administrative arrangements with the Union Delegations to Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger. Those administrative arrangements shall: (a) ensure that the logistical and security support necessary for ISDE to accomplish their tasks is provided to them; (b) provide that the Heads of Delegation have authority over the ISDE in their respective Union Delegations, notably for the purposes of fulfilling their duty of care, ensuring compliance with applicable security requirements and contributing to the exercise of disciplinary control, and are kept duly informed by ISDE of their activities; (c) provide that the Heads of Delegation must ensure that the ISDE enjoy the same privileges and immunities as granted to staff in the Union Delegations in the place where they are located.’.

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.