European Union Support for Colombia's Peace Process

“A truly original contribution to our understanding of peacebuilding in the 21st Century. This detailed analysis of the role of the European Union in Colombia’s struggle to make and build peace gives us vital insights into whether and how International actors can contribute seriously to both.”

— Jenny Pearce, Research Professor, Latin America and Caribbean Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom


This open access book provides a comprehensive analysis of the EU's crucial support for the implementation of the Havana Peace Agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP. It explores the use of new approaches and instruments that, despite some limitations and criticisms, could go beyond conventional liberal peace and provide useful lessons. Particular attention is paid to three axes: strengthening civil society, protection of human rights and a territorial peace perspective, as a contribution to the "local turn" in peace policies. The book first outlines the background of the conflict, the EU's two-decade defense of a negotiated peace, and the complexities of the peace process. Then, it analyses the development cooperation and political support provided in different areas: the collective reinsertion of ex-guerrillas, women and gender initiatives, the rights of ethnic communities, the sophisticated transitional justice system, as well as activities on reconciliation, victims and protection of human rights defenders.


Karlos Pérez de Armiño is Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao. Research fellow and former director (2015-2021) of Hegoa, Institute for International Cooperation and Development Studies. His research interests include critical approaches to peacebuilding, EU peacebuilding policies, human security, humanitarian action, and conflicts and famines.