Europe and Pakistan: the potential for a 'partnership with accountability'

Pakistan is becoming increasingly salient in European foreign and security policy calculus and there is growing interest across the EU in closer engagement with that country. Although Europe may be unable and unwilling to engage in military support, there are several areas in which a constructive role could be played by Europe in moving Pakistan towards stability and security. This paper is intended to identify several policy areas which may prove fruitful for further engagement – specifically education, policing, justice, civil society and joint research on issues such as water and health security – but also to propose a framework to maximise the efficacy and utility of any future partnership between the EU and Pakistan in which the continuation of modular aspects of any such partnership are conditional upon the achievement of agreed milestones.