EUGENDFOR - The Military Police Force You Are Not Being Told About

In October 2007, far from prying eyes of the European public and that of the nations involved, the ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Interiors of five EU nations signed the Treaty of Velsen, in the small town of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Don't feel bad if you have never heard of it in any mainstream media outlet, or if your elected representatives have failed to even mention its existence - the treaty was specifically signed under a shroud of secrecy in the Dutch city of Velsen, to prevent popular resistance. This is certainly understandable as the treaty was intended to establish a "multinational police force with military status... which shall be operational, pre-organised, robust, and rapidly deployable, exclusively comprising elements of police forces with military status of the Parties, in order to perform all police tasks within the scope of crisis management operations". As such, the treaty established the first supranational and multinational military body of the European Union - the European Gendarmerie Force (EUROGENDFOR, or EGF).

The Logos and Insignia of the EUROGENDFOR

The EGF is composed of the police forces of militarized natures of six member countries, the founding five with the addition of Romania in December 2008: Gendarmerie Nationale (France), Guarda Nacional Republicana (Portugal), Koninklijke Marechaussee (Netherlands), Arma dei Carabinieri (Italy), Jandarmeria Română (Romania) and the Guardia Civil (Spain). The body is currently comprised of more than 3,000 armed forces with training and permanent headquarters in Vicenza, Italy, but can be deployed among any EU member nations. It must be noted that the EUGENDFOR was founded as a complementary component, and under the direct auspices, of the NATO and the UN peacekeeping forces. (For a great analysis of the UN Peacekeeping forces' role in Haiti please check Dady Chery's wonderful article). When reading the original treaty, at its very beginning the document itself clearly states that the treaty was written with considerations to "the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington on 4 April 1949...the Charter of the United Nations signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945... [and] the Agreement between the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty regarding the Status of their Forces, signed in London on 19 June 1951" and other ad-hoc coalitions between EU member nations.

Members of the European Gendarmerie Force

Despite having read some articles pertaining to this originating from my home-countries of Italy and France, barely any English-language documentation has been compiled on this issue.

What Are the Implications?

The unification of the militarized police forces of the member countries would have far-reaching implications, especially in the balance of power between civil and military law enforcement and criminal investigations agencies. In order to understand these potential implications, one must understand the nature behind the existence of such forces.

Militarized civil law-enforcement agencies are an (almost) exclusive European idiosyncrasy. Their existence largely derives from the previous (or current, in the case of the Netherlands and Spain) monarchic protection forces, charged with protecting the monarchies and royal families. They are an integral part of the democratic expression and balance of power in such countries, as they represent a highly-trained specialized body which is independent of the political class as they receive their orders through the military chain of command. As such, these bodies are intended to stand as guards for the population against the possibility of oppressive political regimes. In contrast, civil law-enforcement agencies are intended to guarantee adequate resistance against a military takeover of the civilian government. 

In the case of Italy (my home nation) for example, the branch of the Carabinieri are considered an essential part of the balance of power between civil and military law enforcement agencies, as is the fragmentation of the various police forces into local police (municipal and provincial), forest guard, national police, the financial guard (customs, immigration, smuggling etc.), penitential police, and the Arm of Carabinieri. Each of these have their domain of operation, and their decentralized and fragmented nature is envisioned to prevent a complete control over the entire civil law enforcement body by a single person. The presence of the Carabinieri is intended to ensure civil protection outside the domain of the political class in the case that it acts against the public's interest or safety. Likewise, the other police forces are also intended to protect the civilian population from a possible military takeover, and to protect the political and civil institutions.

The Carabinieri are considered to be one of the top policing forces of Europe which, along with the Guardia di Finanza (Financial Guard), undertakes the task of investigating and arresting the more complex crimes, as well as those of an international nature, such as human trafficking, Mafia-related cases (including the search for fugitive Mafia bosses), money laundering and drug trafficking. According to a statement by the Union of Carabinieri, its sterilization and incorporation into a supranational force is "a joke as believable as the Mayan [apocalyptic] prophecies, but it is true... the Arm of Carabinieri, in a future more or less distant, but certainly not remote, is destined to an inevitable disbandment... it is only a matter of political treaties".

Doesn't need to operate in member countries

As mentioned earlier in this article, the deployment of the EGF forces is not dependent at all on the origin of the forces or the recipient nation. This is due to another piece of international law signed among EU nations known as the Prüm Treaty. This document, signed in 2008, regulates access to police databases of neighbouring countries for obvious security and criminal investigation purposes. However, since its establishment, the treaty has enlarged its scope and purview and has established the legal foundation for the exchange of riot police equipment and of personnel with the participating countries (Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, and Belgium). However, following its naturalization into EU law, the treaty allows for EUROGENDFOR forces to access virtually the entire EU territory (based on the Schengen agreement). This transnational nature is exemplified by the mobility of the force itself - While the European Police Forces Training of 2009 (EUPFT 2009) was run in Vicenza (home to EGF headquarters) the EUPFT 2010 on anti-riot tactics was run in Lehnin in Germany.

Not only the national EGF forces can be deployed to any country, even one that is not signatory to the treaty, but the civilian authorities of the receiving country will have no jurisdiction or oversight over the EGF forces deployed on their territory. As Article 25 states, "The authorities of the Sending State shall have the right to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over military and civilian personnel where such civilian personnel are subject to the law governing all or any of the police forces with military status of the Sending State". Imagine now, for example, that a member of the EUROGENDFOR force kills an innocent person in a non-signatory nation - say, Greece. That member is now immune from prosecution by the Greek state, and shall be dealt with according to the laws (and will) of the sending country. In addition (as we will see in the following paragraphs) it is not the civilian authorities of the sending nation that will oversee the criminal prosecution, but it will have to be internal to the EGF itself. As many of the bodies that make up the EGF act as the "military police" bodies in their respective nations, those who are meant to be policed are the same persons doing the policing.

These forces have already been deployed in a variety of extra-territorial operations such as the disastrous UN Stabilization mission troops in Haiti (MINUSTAH - for two great articles on the matter please check this link and this one.) which, according to diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks, were "poorly trained, spied on student groups, mismanaged and staged elections". The EUROGENDFOR has also been involved in the equally disastrous NATO training programmes in Afghanistan (which have been investigated and denounced in-depth by activists, such as Pratap Chatterjee, in articles and podcast), and the EU peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is notable that all the areas in which such stabilization and reconstruction efforts (whether undertaken by the EU, NATO and/or the UN Blue Helmet occupation force) are both strategically advantageous, resource-rich, and have a history of resistance and continuous fight against western and U.S.-led imperialism and the neoliberal economic policies that inevitably follow suit. As such, these forces should not be seen as anything but the extension of the military arm of western hegemony and of the global "empire" over which the U.N security council presides.

In essence, the EUROGENDFOR will be part of this arm, securing the strategic, economic and political interests of its members states and the financial and economic interests which, we know too well, are controlled by international corporations with no national allegiance, and the enormous financial and banking interests which support them.

Virtual Complete Immunity

As previously mentioned, the Treaty of Velsen is the official document which has allowed for the creation of the EUROGENDFOR. We have already seen how this supranational military police force could be used to squash dissent all across Europe, as well as participate in murderous NATO "peacekeeping" missions. There is a conclusive aspect to the treaty which must be mentioned, as it is essential to the existence of the EGF - its complete immunity from civil of criminal prosecution.

Article 21 of the Treaty of Velsen states "The authorities of the Parties may not enter the premises and buildings... without the prior consent of the EGF Commander, or where applicable, the EGF Force Commander.". This means that no civil authority has the right the investigate the premises of the EGF without their Commander's approval, effectively removing the civil oversight of the armed forces. Should the barring of physical access to the EGF not be surprising enough for you, the same Article also states that not only the premises, but also "the archives of EUROGENDFOR shall be inviolable... wherever they are located in the territory of the Parties" and makes no provision for the possible request of access to such archives by a court of law. Even if such provisions were made the following provision, Article 22, states that  "the property and funds of EUROGENDFOR and the goods which have been placed at its disposal for official purposes, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from any executive measure in force in the territory of the Parties", effectively barring any court from inspecting their financial records or property.

Lastly, but certainly not least, there are numerous provisions, such as Article 25 mentioned beforehand, which ensure that single members are under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the sending state. In addition to Art. 25, Article 29, Section 3 states that "A member of EUROGENDFOR Personnel shall not be subject to any proceedings  for the enforcement of any judgement given against him or her in the Host State or the Receiving State in a matter arising from the performance of his official duties". As such, each EUROGENDFOR member benefits from complete immunity when deployed, when following orders (although they may be illegal or immoral) or generally performing "his official duties".

The combination of these provisions - barring from access to premises by civilian authorities, inviolability of archives, immunity of prosecution and investigation of funds and assets, and personal immunity for EGF personnel - effectively means that the EGF is not accountable to any national civil authority and enjoys virtual immunity from prosecution.

It is also particularly disturbing that the European Union seems hell bent on pursuing the same draconian and fascist-like policies that have plagued the United States and have rendered its population sterile, docile, and effectively under siege by their own government. Thanks to the trans-Atlantic partnership programmes, spearheaded by the Atlantic Council, the European Union is (not-so) slowly becoming a de-facto extension of the United States' hegemony, of its political and economic policies through the myriads of think-tanks and summits (Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission, Atlantic Council, Council of Foreign Relations etc.), and of its military apparatus trough the NATO.

Is this the kind of police force that we want in Europe? Why was the European citizenship not consulted about his police forces that may, and in all possibility will, be used to squash popular dissent and maintain order through military means? Are we beginning to be the "United States of Europe? What are the implications of having a non-emotionally and nationally invested police military force in another country? How can we allow such an institution to be virtually immune from scrutiny and prosecution by civilian bodies and courts?

However, to those following the situation closely, this should come to no surprise. This is only one of the man steps the EU is taking in becoming a full-fledged fascist state in which financial institutions and corporations rule, and the police enforces and subdues. We live in dangerous times, especially if such advances are completely ignored by the apparatus which is supposed to inform the public, and the public which is informed is too small or powerless to intervene.