Improving the Effectiveness of EU Capabilities in Operational Conflict Prevention: Best Practices and Lessons Identified in the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo – EULEX

The article seeks to explore the possibilities for improving the effectiveness of EU capabilities in conflict prevention through a case study of identifying lessons and best practices from the European Union Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) in Kosovo. To this end, researchers conducted in-country fieldwork and semi-structured interviews with EULEX personnel, governmental and non-governmental actors in Kosovo. Contrary to prevailing negative assessments, the research finds that EULEX – despite its challenges and deficiencies – presents also positive examples of operational conflict prevention. This is revealed through structured, focused analysis according to effectiveness criteria and success indicators, which allows the researchers to distinguish between different types and levels of effectiveness, whilst considering both means applied and ends achieved. By this, the paper is also a theoretical contribution to the literature on conflict prevention, and peace-building in general. Based hereon, the article identifies lessons and best practices for the EU specifically and discusses their implications for conflict prevention in post-conflict societies more generally. This contribution presents research findings from European Commission Horizon 2020 Project: ‘Improving Capabilities in EU Conflict Prevention – IECEU’.