22.9.2010 Official Journal of the European Union L 24859 DECISIONS COUNCIL DECISION 2010/565/CFSP of 21 September 2010 on the European Union mission to provide advice and assistance for security sector reform in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (EUSEC RD Congo) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 28 and Article 43 thereof, Whereas: On the basis of Joint Action 2005/355/CESP (1), the European Union (EU) has been conducting, since 2 May 2005, a mission to provide advice and assistance for security sector reform in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (EUSEC RD Congo). The current mandate of the mission is set out in Joint Action 2009/709/CESP (?) and expires on 30 September 2010. The Secretary-General/High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy sent a letter to the President of the DRC dated 27 July 2009 stating the EU’s renewed commitment. Following that letter, the mission statement was adapted as from 1 October 2009. The Congolese authorities transposed that letter into an action programme which was signed, on 21 January 2010, by the Minister for Defence and War Veterans and the Head of the EUSEC RD Congo mission. Following the ratification in 2005 of the Constitution of the Third Republic of the Congo, the elections held in the DRC in 2006 marked the end of the transition process and enabled a government to be formed in 2007, which has adopted a programme providing in particular for comprehensive reform of the security sector, the drawing up of a national plan, and priority reforms in the police, armed forces and judicial sectors. The Congolese authorities have demonstrated their interest in implementing the security sector reform (") Council Joint Action 2005/355/CFSP of 2 May 2005 on the European Union mission to provide advice and assistance for security sector reform in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (O] L 112, 3.5.2005, p. 20). () OJ L 246, 18.9.2009, p. 33. (SSR) process in the DRC at operational level by developing a plan to reform the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) in three stages between 2009 and 2025, a plan which was approved by the President of the Republic at the end of May 2009 and presented to the representatives of the international community on 26 January 2010, and by taking over the role of coordinator of the work of the various actors supporting SSR in the DRC. The United Nations has reaffirmed its support for the transition process and SSR by means of several Security Council  resolutions, and is  conducting the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), which is focusing on peacekeeping in the east of the country and on peace consolidation throughout the country. On 28 May 2010, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1925 (2010) extending MONUC’s mandate until 30 June 2010 and renaming it the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) as from 1 July 2010 and allowing it to support, in close cooperation with other international partners, the efforts of the Congolese authorities to strengthen and reform security and judicial institutions. The EU has consistently supported SSR in the DRC, as one of the elements of a more general EU commitment to supporting development and democracy in the African Great Lakes Region, while taking care to promote policies compatible with human rights and international humani- tarian law, democratic standards and the principles of good governance, transparency and respect for the rule of law. On 14 June 2010, the Council adopted Decision 2010/329/CFSP amending and extending for an additional period of three months Joint Action 2007/405/CFSP on the European Union police mission undertaken in the framework of SSR and its interface with the system of justice in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (EUPOL RD Congo) (3). () OJ L 149, 15.6.2010, p. 11.