Birgit Loeser, Deputy Civilian Operations Commander/ Chief of Staff was speaking at the sidelines of a three-day visit last week to EUPOL COPPS, the Common Security and Defence Policy Mission (CSDP) that was established in 2006 to assist the Palestinian Authority in institutions building, with a special focus on security and justice sector reforms in areas of policing and criminal justice.

She headed a team of 21 members representing chiefs of staff, their deputies and other colleagues from the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC), the permanent structure responsible for an autonomous operational conduct of civilian CSDP operations. “We discussed cross-cutting issues. For example, environmental crime is a topic that could be (tackled). Everything is currently on climate change,” said Loeser. “In Brussels, we are having in the wider CSDP family, for example, a discussion now ‘what can we do to leave an ecological footprint of our Missions,” she added. She said that Human Resources “is a big topic” in addition to benchmarking and reporting of Missions and gender aspects.

This summer the Palestinian Civil Police, the Environmental Quality Authority and prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office beef up their capacity to fight environmental crimes and prosecute perpetrators. The Mission has launched a series of supportive actions to assist the Palestinian Authority in managing the increasing environmental burden on the Palestinian society. A new environmental expert is expected to arrive soon in the Mission. “Environment in conflict areas and here in Palestine and Israel would be a meaningful issue for us to deal with and assist.”

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