ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the European Union's (EU) engagement in Afghanistan as compared to that of the US. The EU and its member states have provided substantial military and development assistance to Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. The EU's implementation of Afghan Police reform, i.e. of EUPOL-Afghanistan, has been characterized by fragmentation concerning policy measures as well as the Union's actorness. The EU has been heavily engaged in state-building and development assistance through the Council and Commission, and, in 2007, EU member states launched EUPOL-Afghanistan, a civilian Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) mission to train the Afghan police force. Post Taliban police reform has been a multi stakeholder process, directly or indirectly supported by several countries namely the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the EU and NATO. The EU decided to launch a civilian CSDP mission to rebuild the Afghan National Police (ANP).
