European Gendarmerie Force

European Gendarmerie Force
	Coat of arms
Active	2006–present
Country	7 states Italy ; France ; Netherlands ; Poland ; Portugal ; Romania ; Spain;
Allegiance	European Union[lower-alpha 1]
Type	Gendarmerie force
Size	~40 (Permanent personnel)
Motto(s)	"Lex paciferat" (Latin); "The law will bring peace"
Colours	Blue[1]
Website	eurogendfor.org
Insignia
Flag

The European Gendarmerie Force (EUROGENDFOR or EGF) is an operational, pre-organised, robust, and rapidly deployable intervention force, exclusively comprising elements of several European police forces with military status of the Parties in order to perform all police tasks within the scope of crisis management operations, as established by Art.1 of the Treaty establishing the European Gendarmerie Force.[2][3]

The EGF was launched by an agreement in 2006 between five member states of the European Union (EU): France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. Romania joined in 2009; Poland in 2011.[4] Its status is enshrined in the Treaty of Velsen of 18 October 2007.[5] The headquarters are located in Vicenza, Italy.

The EGF is presently not established at the EU level (referred to as the Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP); it is for instance not a project of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) of the CSDP. The EGF may however contribute in the implementation of the CSDP, when made available as a multinational force in accordance with article 42.3 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).

History

The French Defence Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie first proposed the force in September 2003. Alliot-Marie and the Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino presented the idea at the Meeting of European Union Defense Ministers in October 2003. The implementation agreement was finally signed by defence ministers of the five participating countries on 17 September 2004 in Noordwijk, Netherlands. On 23 January 2006, the EGF was officially inaugurated during a military ceremony in the Gen. Chinotto barracks in Vicenza.

The EGF was declared fully operational on 20 July 2006, following the High Level Interministerial meeting in Madrid, Spain, and its second successful Command Post exercise (CPX), which took place between 19 and 28 April 2006. The first CPX was held at the National Gendarmerie Training Center in Saint Astier, France in June 2005.

After Romania's accession to the European Union, the Romanian Gendarmerie sought permanent observer status with the European Gendarmerie Force, as a first step towards full membership.[6] On March 3, 2009, the Romanian Gendarmerie became a full member of the European Gendarmerie Force.[7]

The Polish Military Gendarmerie was originally a partner force and, on 10 October 2006, Poland indicated it would like to join the EGF.[8] In December 2011, Poland applied for full membership in EGF,[9] which was granted in 2011.[4]

Missions

Since December 2009, the EGF has taken part in the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) training operation of the Afghan National Police (ANP) in the War in Afghanistan. As of June 2010, 276 members of the EGF (among which 124 French gendarmes), from France, Spain, Netherlands, Poland and Portugal are training the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) officers and non-commissioned officers, while the initial mission was planned to be around 400 to 500 men.[10] They are training them in ANCOP training centers but are also accompanying, advising and helping them during their missions in P-OMLT (Police Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams),[11][12] where their military experience (even if the mission is strictly speaking, civilian) will be useful. As of May 2010, it had trained 50 officers and 250 non-commissioned officers of the ANCOP, and the then French Minister of Defense Brice Hortefeux announced that 40 more French gendarmes would be sent to help this mission.[13]

In early 2010, the EGF was deployed to Haiti to help with post-relief security efforts.[14]

Structure

EGF members.

The EGF is based in Vicenza, in northeastern Italy, and has a core of 800 to 900 members ready to deploy within 30 days.

An additional 2,300 reinforcements are available on standby.

Members

The treaty allows for any EU member state to become a European Gendarmerie Force member state, subject to the approval of existing European Gendarmerie Force members.[5] The member forces are:[15][16]

EU Member State	Institution
France	Gendarmerie nationale
Italy	Arma dei Carabinieri
Netherlands	Koninklijke Marechaussee
Poland	Żandarmeria Wojskowa
Portugal	Guarda Nacional Republicana
Romania	Jandarmeria Română
Spain	Guardia Civil

Germany does not take part, as its constitution does not permit the use of military forces for police services. In 2004, Peter Struck, Minister of Defense at the time, clarified that the legal foundation for militarised police forces is different from the expectations underlying the EGF.[17] The paramilitary Bereitschaftspolizei units of the Länder states have no standing patrol order like the German Federal Police. Germany did not sign the Treaty of Velsen on the EGF or any subsequent accord.[18] Instead, there is a tight integration of police forces based on the Prüm Treaty. Originally the Prüm Treaty regulated access to police databases of neighboring countries but it was used multiple times as the legal foundation to exchange riot police equipment and personnel with the participating countries (Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, and Belgium). In 2008 the Prüm Treaty was naturalised as EU law, allowing countries access to police forces regulated under EU law (based on the Schengen Agreement). The European Police Forces Training of 2009 (EUPFT 2009) was run in Vicenza (home of EGF headquarters) and the EUPFT 2010 on anti-riot tactics was run in Lehnin in Germany.[19][20]

Partners

Lithuanian Viešojo saugumo tarnyba (Public Security Service)[21]

Observers

Turkish Gendarmerie[22]

Ranks

Officers

NATO code	OF-10	OF-9	OF-8		OF-7	OF-6	OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1				OF(D)	Student officer
French Gendarmerie	No equivalent
French Gendarmerie	No equivalent	Général d'armée	Général de corps d'armée		Général de division	Général de brigade	Colonel		Lieutenant-Colonel		Chef d'Escadron		Capitaine		Lieutenant		Sous-Lieutenant		Aspirant	Élève-officier
Carabinieri [23]	No equivalent																		No equivalent
Carabinieri [23]	No equivalent	Comandante generale dell'Arma dei Carabinieri	Vicecomandante generale dell'Arma dei Carabinieri	Generale di Corpo d'Armata	Generale di Divisione	Generale di Brigata	Colonnello Commanding officer	Colonnello	Tenente Colonnello Commanding officer	Tenente Colonnello	Maggiore Commanding officer	Maggiore	Primo capitano	Capitano	Tenente Commanding officer	Tenente		Sottotenente	No equivalent	Allievo Ufficiale
Royal Marechaussee	No equivalent
Royal Marechaussee	No equivalent		Luitenant-Generaal		Generaal-Majoor	Brigade-Generaal	Kolonel		Luitenant-Kolonel		Majoor		Kapitein		Eerste-Luitenant		Tweede-Luitenant		Kornet
Żandarmeria wojskowa	No equivalent																		No equivalent
Żandarmeria wojskowa	No equivalent					Generał brygady	Pułkownik		Podpułkownik		Major		Kapitan		Porucznik		Podporucznik		No equivalent	Podchorąży
National Republican Guard	No equivalent					No equivalent
National Republican Guard	No equivalent		Tenente-general Comandante-general Lieutenant-general Commandant-general	Tenente-general Lieutenant-general	Major-general Major-general	No equivalent	Coronel Colonel		Tenente-coronel Lieutenant-colonel		Major Major		Capitão Captain		Tenente First Lieutenant		Alferes Second Lieutenant		Aspirante Officer candidate
Jandarmeria Română																			No equivalent
Jandarmeria Română	Mareșal	General	General-locotenent		General-maior	General de brigadă	Colonel		Locotenent-colonel		Maior		Căpitan		Locotenent		Sublocotenent		No equivalent
Spainish Civil Guard	No equivalent
Spainish Civil Guard	No equivalent		Teniente general		General de división	General de brigada	Coronel		Teniente coronel		Comandante		Capitán		Teniente		Alférez		Caballero Alférez Cadete	Alférez Alumno 3º	Alférez Alumno 2º	Alférez Alumno 1º

Enlisted

NATO Code	OR-9					OR-8		OR-7	OR-6		OR-5			OR-4				OR-3		OR-2		OR-1
French Gendarmerie								No equivalent
French Gendarmerie	Major			Adjudant-chef		Adjudant		No equivalent	Maréchal des Logis-Chef		Gendarme	Gendarme sous contrat	Gendarme Adjoint Maréchal-des-logis	Gendarme Adjoint Brigadier Chef				Gendarme Adjoint Brigadier		Gendarme Adjoint première classe		Gendarme Adjoint
Carabinieri [24][25][26]																				No equivalent
Carabinieri [24][25][26]	Primo luogotenente c.s. s.u.p.s	Luogotenente s.u.p.s.	Primo Maresciallo		Maresciallo Capo	Maresciallo Ordinario	Maresciallo	Sergente Maggiore Capo	Sergente Maggiore		Sergente			Appuntato scelto q.s.	Appuntato scelto	Appuntato	Carabiniere scelto	Carabiniere		No equivalent
Royal Marechaussee
Royal Marechaussee	Adjudant							Opperwachtmeester	Wachtmeester der 1e klasse		Wachtmeester			Marechaussee der 1e klasse				Marechaussee der 2e klasse		Marechaussee der 3e klasse		Marechaussee der 4e klasse
Żandarmeria wojskowa
Żandarmeria wojskowa	Starszy chorąży sztabowy			Starszy chorąży		Chorąży		Młodszy chorąży	Starszy sierżant		Sierżant			Plutonowy		Starszy kapral		Kapral		Starszy szeregowy		Szeregowy
National Republican Guard																						No Equivalent
National Republican Guard	Sargento-mor Sergeant-major					Sargento-chefe Master sergeant		Sargento-ajudante First sergeant	Primeiro-sargento Staff sergeant	Segundo-sargento Sergeant	Furriel Lance sergeant			Cabo-mor Master corporal		Cabo-chefe Corporal first class		Cabo-de-curso Corporal	Cabo Lance corporal	Guarda Principal Guardsman first class	Guarda Guardsman	No Equivalent
Jandarmeria Română
Jandarmeria Română	Plutonier adjutant șef			Plutonier adjutant		Plutonier-major		Plutonier	Sergent-major		Sergent			Caporal				Fruntaş		Jandarm
Spainish Civil Guard
Spainish Civil Guard	Suboficial mayor			Subteniente		Brigada		Sargento primero	Sargento		Cabo mayor			Cabo primero				Cabo		Guardia Civil de Primera (Rank in abeyance)		Guardia Civil

Relationship with EU defence policy

The EGF has been widely misrepresented, notably with regard to its general purpose and specific relationship to the EU.[3] The EGF is not an EU body, and has no power to intervene on the soil of the EU and its Member States, including the EGF countries.[3]