European Institute of Peace

The European Institute of Peace (EIP) is a non-profit public foundation which contributes to and complements the global peace agenda of the European Union, primarily through mediation and informal dialogue. On 18 February 2014, the Ministers of Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Luxembourg, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland signed the statutes for the establishment of the Institute. The EIP was launched on 12 May 2014 by foreign ministers from the signatory governments as well as Italy and Spain, and is based in Brussels.

The EIP contributes to and complements the global peace agenda of the European Union, primarily through mediation and informal dialogue. The EIP pursues multi-track diplomacy and promotes best practice in conflict resolution. As an operational hub, the EIP connects existing expertise and shares knowledge on European mediation.

Preparations for the establishment of the Institute started a few years earlier. In 2009 former Finnish president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari called for the establishment of such an Institute, underpinning the need for improved learning from past lessons. In 2010 Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt and Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb developed a joint non-paper that was addressed to EU High Representative Catherine Ashton. They referred to the limits of traditional diplomacy and emphasised the added value that capacities beyond those available to high-level decision-makers could have. At the same time, the idea of a European Institute of Peace gained increasing attention among members of the European Parliament (MEP) and was particularly supported by German MEP Franziska Brantner and French MEP Alain Lamassoure.

Subsequently, the European Parliament commissioned three major studies on the establishment of an EIP, including a study on a blue print for the Institute, a cost-benefit analysis and a study on the added value and financial appraisal. The process for the establishment of the EIP was steered by a Core Group of States, which explored the best alternatives to make the EIP fit with European efforts and realities. Beginning in 2011, they received advice from the European Forum for International Mediation and Dialogue (mediatEUr). MediatEUr carried out several projects, including scoping missions, seminars and consultations to assess the value of a European Institute of Peace. The process included the development of extensive building blocks, such as a scoping mission to Kosovo and a dialogue project in Brussels with Egyptian personalities in the wake of the 2013/2014 crisis.

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