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DFID: Working with the European Union

Our main aim is to ensure that EU development funds are used as effectively as possible and benefit those in greatest need - the very poorest. After nearly a decade of reform, many aspects of EU aid provision are now much better than they were. Nevertheless, DFID’s Institutional Strategy Paper, Europe for Development: Working with the European Union (787kb), sets out a comprehensive programme for further improvements.

A. Better aid

Since 2000 the EU has taken important steps towards ensuring development aid is better delivered. Clear strategic priorities for European development aid have been set on the basis of an agreed development policy (the European Consensus on Development) with the overarching objective of poverty eradication and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

A new implementation agency has been created across almost all areas – EuropeAid. In 2006 development financial budget lines were streamlined from 30 to nine. The speed of disbursement of aid has almost doubled from 2001 to 2007. A new programming system sets out clear strategies and budgets, with expected results and guidelines for implementing aid.

Yet there is still much to do. Institutional structures and rigidity, an overly bureaucratic system, a lack of development skills and competing agendas in external relations still hamper the Commission’s performance, as do the spread of development policy and implementation across too many directorate-generals (development, external relations, EuropeAid).

Building upon what has been achieved to date, DFID wants to see an organisation that offers a coherent and consistent approach to development cooperation, with a strong emphasis on long-term poverty-focused development cooperation.

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B. Beyond Aid

Aid is only part of the development story. The EU‘s wider policies are equally, if not more important. We particularly want to see progress in five priority policy areas to ensure the best possible development outcomes:

• Climate change: The EU has been a leader on climate change, not least with the establishment of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, the largest multi-national emissions trading scheme in the world in 2005. The Spring Council in 2007 made concrete proposals for a post-2012 international climate change agreement, and committed to significant cuts in the EU's greenhouse gas emissions. The European Commission has now proposed to partner with developing countries in establishing a Global Climate Change Alliance, and a Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund. DFID wants the EU to support poor and vulnerable countries in creating climate-resilient development plans and programmes.
• Fragile states/peace and security: The EU has made significant contributions in this area, with the establishment of an Instrument for Stability, designed to address crises and security threats in developing countries. EU election observers continue to play a key role, with 10 election observation missions - a total of some 800 observers – deployed around the globe in 2007. DFID wants to ensure that measures to promote peace and security also promote poverty reduction and sustainable development.
• Migration policy: The EU receives more immigrants per capita than any other area of the world. In 2007 a Comprehensive European Migration Policy was launched. One aspect of it is the issue of partnership with third countries and regions of origin. DFID wants to maximise the benefits of migration for development (through, for example, remittances or skills transfer) and minimise its negative effects, such as ‘brain drain’.
• Trade and agriculture: Trade is a vital part of development policy and the EU has a key role to play, particularly in multilateral negotiations – such as via the World Trade Organisation - and in further negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. In 2007 the European Council adopted an EU Strategy on Aid for Trade, setting spending commitments specifically targeted at projects designed to help partner countries develop the capacity to trade in the global marketplace. DFID wants to ensure better trading opportunities for developing countries.
• Biofuels: With increasing food prices, the EU has a crucial role to play in seeking a coordinated and comprehensive approach to biofuels. DFID wants to ensure that EU policies on biofuels take full account of the impact on developing countries.

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C. Political leverage for development

The EU has a major role to play in making global development work better and promoting good governance, peace, the rule of law, and human rights. The EU can use its influence to shape the international development system in addressing the challenges faced by developing countries.

• Aid volume: In June 2008 the European Heads of State signed up to an ambitious development Agenda for Action. Central to the agenda is the target for EU member states to donate 0.51% of their Gross National Income (GNI) to official development assistance (ODA) by 2012, in order to achieve the longstanding UN target of 0.7% of GNI for development aid by 2015. DFID wants the EU to deliver on its commitments to increased aid and to set out multi-annual timetables mapping out clearly how Member States will achieve these.
• Millennium Development Goals: 2008, the half way point to 2015, is an opportunity to focus on progress towards the MDGs and on what the international community can do to accelerate action. We look to the EU to create the necessary momentum to get the MDGs back on track before it is too late. DFID wants to ensure the EU delivers on its ambitious MDG Agenda for Action.
• Aid effectiveness: The EU is already a platform for promoting better aid. Its collective approach also helps us by monitoring progress towards the commitments we have made on aid volumes, and how closely the Commission and Member States stick to the international principles of aid effectiveness (agreed in Paris in March 2005). DFID wants to work collectively with the European Commission and other Member States to increase the effectiveness of aid.

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Last updated: 5 August 2008