European Union - Afghanistan: Beyond 2014

Berlin, 7 - 8 October 2013

At the NATO-Summit in Chicago in May 2012, Heads of State of the nations contributing to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan set the deadline for complete withdrawal of all NATO-troops: 31 December 2014. The European Union and its Member States, as well as other nations, has signalled to remain “one of Afghanistan’s most important international partners up to 2014 and beyond”. As basis for the new partnership, negotiations on an EU-Afghanistan Cooperation Agreement on Partnership and Development (CAPD) have commenced in Kabul already in March 2012. The CAPD is supposed to include all sectors of mutual interest to Afghanistan and the EU, most notably security and reconstruction. Yet, what the new partnership will actually consist of remains unclear.

Taking up the achievements of the EU-Afghanistan Conference held at FU Berlin in October 2012, this conference focused on security and education. Along with young Diplomats from Afghanistan, students from various faculties were invited to represent one of the Member States of the European Union, the European Commission or the High Representative  to pursue the negotiations on the CAPD. Based on the expertise of the Afghan participants, this conference was much more than "just" a simulation.

After two days of intense debate, the EU-Afghanistan Conference adopted a new Cooperation Agreement which was signed in a special ceremony by all participants.