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TRIALOG - Strengthening development NGOs in the enlarged EU
TRIALOG is in charge of raising awareness of development issues in the enlarged EU and to strengthen dialogue and partnerships between development NGOs in accession countries, EU countries and developing countries.
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With the support of the European Union
This website has been produced with thefinancial support of the European UnionOnly CONCORD and its members are responsible for the content of this website and does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union.
EU states agree new aid approach, NGOs concerned about impact on world’s poorest
(Brussels) Fewer countries will receive EU aid in the future, with EU member states endorsing a new plan to shift bilateral aid away from many middle income countries and open up the private sector to development aid funds. The agreement was made by national government ministers at a Foreign Affairs Council today in Brussels.
CONCORD, is deeply concerned about the insufficient level of time and attention given to crucial issues, such as the future of EU development policy, which is only one of the topics on the three-hour meeting agenda today, the first meeting of EU development ministers this year.
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European development aid programmes risk suffering from poor institutional coordination despite positive improvements over the last five years outlines a new report published on 24 April by the OECD.
Improvements in EU aid
“Overall, EU aid has improved in several key areas such as working more closely with partner countries, which is welcome. The EU also shows progress in establishing common standards and principles for development policy across 27 member states, which is no easy task,’ says Olivier Consolo, Director of Concord, the European confederation of Relief and Development NGOs.
Institutional problems in coordinating aid
“Five years on from the EU’s last aid review, a major issue is the coordination of aid efforts across EU institutions. In particular, the EU’s new foreign policy arm, the External Action Service, is failing to integrate development policy in its remit and clarify its role vis a vis the Commission. It’s important that the EU wastes no more time in getting its act together for the support it gives to millions in need,” says Wiske Jult from 11.11.11, the Belgian platform of Concord.
Aid commitments
“EU member states should follow the OECD’s call to continue to push to meet commitments to give 0.7% of their GNI to development aid with a clear binding roadmap to achieve the 2015 target. A great deal still needs to be done to implement aid effectiveness commitments. The financial crisis should not be used as an excuse to cull aid budgets, which would leave many in need without support.” Olivier Consolo also commented.
Making EU policies more coherent
“The OECD recommends to give greater concern to making EU policies more coherent with development objectives. This is a clear area where the EU needs to step up its game especially at a time the EU is looking to overhaul its agricultural, trade and energy policies.” says Karine Sohet, from development organiastion APRODEV.
Several European countries are making cuts in their aid programmes to the developing world, according to new figures released today by the OECD.
For the first time since the start of the financial crisis, 12 EU countries have slashed their aid budgets. The biggest cuts were in Spain (-32.7%) and Greece (-39.3%), with substantial decreases in Belgium
(-13.3%) and Austria (-14.3%).
“European countries are cutting aid faster than their economies are shrinking. We could see Europe entering an age of aid austerity, pulling back from supporting millions of poor people in developing countries. European governments are understandably under pressure, but they should realize how important development programmes can be to tackle global poverty and to support developing countries to cope with the impact of the financial crisis. European countries should not turn their backs to the over 3 billion people living on less than $2.50 a day,” says Olivier Consolo, Director of CONCORD, the European Confederation of Relief and Development NGOs.
Only 3 European countries increased aid spending in 2011: Italy (33%), Sweden (10.5%), Germany (5.9%).
“The striking surge in Italian aid is largely due to the injection of inflated aid, namely debt relief and refugees costs. For this reason, we estimate that the total volume should be discounted by 18%. The national government has a real responsibility to bring Italian aid back on track. We call on the newly appointed Development Minister to take urgent actions to make sure that Italy fully plays its role as one of the G8 and G20 club members.” says Luca de Fraia, from CONCORD’s AidWatch monitoring group and ActionAid Italy.
Some major donors are playing games with aid commitments, only increasing them the year before international targets such as in 2010.
“French aid is not getting any better. In 2010 France increased its aid to 0.50% to appear as a good donor that is meeting the EU aid target. Now in 2011 it has decreased aid to 0.46%, the same as in 2009. Both French Presidential candidates Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande said they favour aid but France is far off target to reaching their stated commitment of giving 0.7% of GNI to development assistance,” says Jean-Louis Vielajus, President of Coordination Sud, the French development NGO federation.
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