European Union’s Military Training Missions in Africa: The case of EUTM Mozambique

The proposed paper focuses on the military strand of EU’s CSDP in general and its training missions in Africa in particular. Framed by a comparative lens between the recent experience of EU Training Mission (EUTM) in Mozambique and formerly established EUTMs in Africa (namely in Somalia, Mali, and the Central Africa Republic), the paper’s objective is three-folded. Firstly, it explains the diplomatic and negotiation process leading to the establishment in 2021 of a CSDP mission, such as the EU Training Mission (EUTM) in Mozambique, in particular when promoted by a specific EU Member State (in this case, Portugal). Secondly, it aims to understand the outcome of EUTM Mozambique, namely in terms of security improvements amid the presence of the Salafi-jihadist movement in the country’s northern region, with focus on the province of Cabo Delgado. Thirdly, it analyses the place taken by an EU tool of mostly technical and functional nature (a CSDP mission) within EU’s overall military intervention, which is framed by an integrated approach that aims at promoting its normative role abroad.