EC aid to Africa
EC Aid to Africa
This section gives a brief explanation of EC aid programming, including information about the key processes and institutions.
The European Community and its Member States provide over half of all global aid. The European Commission (EC) is the 5th biggest aid donor in the world. It also plays an important role in influencing how aid is spent directly by European Union member states.
The Cotonou Agreement
European Aid to Africa is arranged under of the Cotonou Agreement, the defining framework of relations between the EC and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states.
The Cotonou Agreement has its roots in the Lome Agreements, the first of which was signed in 1975, the same year the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of states – the ACP group – was formed. Lome I was the first major partnership agreement addressing aid and trade relations between the then European Economic Community (EEC) (now European Union) and the ACP member states. After five successive Lome Agreements the Cotonou Agreement was signed in 2000. It is said to have marked a shift in EC-ACP cooperation, claiming a core objective ‘reducing and eventually eradicating poverty’.
The Cotonou Agreement is based on three pillars:
| Development Cooperation | Trade | Political Dimensions |
African Voices in Europe focuses on the Development Cooperation pillar which deals with Aid to ACP countries. For information about all aspects of the Cotonou Agreement see The Cotonou Agreement: A User's Guide for Non-State Actors
The European Development Fund (EDF)
The ACP group is divided into six regions: the Caribbean, the Pacific, Southern, Central, East and West Africa.
The EDF is the main instrument for channelling aid to ACP countries and falls outside the Community’s general budget. Member states make voluntary contributions to the fund under the Financial Protocol of the Cotonou Agreement. It is allocated every five years.
The EDF is allocated to each ACP country based on their Country Strategy Paper (CSP) which sets out a country’s situation, basic needs, priorities and a comprehensive development strategy. It also includes a country’s National Indicative Programme (NIP) - a more detailed action plan for sectors that are to receive EC aid. Country strategies papers are developed by National Authorizing Officers in close cooperation with the Delegations of the European Community. Aid is also allocated to the six regions of the ACP group based on Regional Strategy Papers including Regional Indicative Programmes (RIPs) developed by Regional Authorising Officers (RAOs).
During the 9th EDF (2000-2007) €13.5 billion was allocated to the ACP region. The budget for the 10th EDF (2008-2013) is €22.8 billion. The CSPs for the 10th EDF will be ready for signing by national governments and the European Commission in the course of April-June 2007.
Civil Society Participation
The Agreement is increasingly recognised for its attempts to promote participation of civil society and other non-state actors in the design and implementation of development assistance. Several articles of the agreement define these efforts. Civil Society Participation is therefore a legal obligation of member states. However obligations are based on general principles to allow for the broad political differences amongst ACP states. Consequently the process for organising participation is vague.
The ACP Secretariat specifies six possible avenues for civil society participation covering the formulation, implementation and review of national and regional strategies. Civil society representatives have also now been invited to formally participate in the ACP-EC Council of Ministers and ACP-EC Joint Parliamentary Assembly Meetings. Civil Society organisations should seize the opportunities for influencing EC aid policy and accessing EC aid funds directly.
A role for Northern NGOs
EU non-state actors are not specifically included in the agreement. However they can play an important role in partnering with non-state actors from ACP countries, and holding EU politicians to account. African Voices in Europe is one such process which is exploring and testing the participatory mechanisms set out in the Cotonou Agreement and facilitating the participation of African civil society groups at all levels of EC Aid programming to Africa.
The ACP Secretariat's Guide The Cotonou Agreement: A User's Guide for Non-State Actors provides an accessible resource for all civil society organisations interested in understanding and influencing the EU-ACP development assistance programming.
Improving EC aid effectiveness
Practical Action and PELUM’s research shows that the 9th EDF has failed to have a significant impact on poverty reduction. The 10th EDF will be allocating nearly €10 billion more than the 9th. The potential for significant poverty reduction is great, but only if resources are effectively deployed.
African Voices in Europe is pushing for an urgent new agenda to improve EC aid to Africa:
- Aid that targets deprived and remote areas first and foremost
- Aid allocation based on genuine and meaningful consultation with communities
- Aid that benefits not undermines the poorest farmers
- Aid that supports long-term food security and disaster preparedness, through providing access to land, credit, water, advice, infrastructure, appropriate technologies, markets, and other essential inputs
- Aid that reaches marginal farmers and pastoralists before they reach emergency status
Within the European Union policies are made to ensure that financial resources are channelled to the most deprived or Less Favoured Areas. If the EC is serious about poverty reduction, the same concept needs to be applied to EC aid to Africa. Targeting areas often labelled as ‘low potential’ could ensure communities’ priorities are heard, and through channelling aid to meet these priorities, enable communities to reduce their dependence on food aid, and avert the risks of future humanitarian crises and conflict over resources.
| Institution | ACP-EC Council of Ministers | ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors | The ACP-EC Joint Parliamentary Assembly(JPA) |
| Members | One representative of government of each ACP country, each EU Member State, and of the European Commission. | Representatives of each EU Member State to the EU, the head of mission of each ACP state to the EU, and a member of the European Commission. | An equal number of EU and ACP parliamentarians. |
| Frequency of meetings | Normally once a year. | About once a month. There are sub-committees that meet more frequently. | Twice a year in plenary session. It has standing committees that meet more frequently. |
| Functions |
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| Address | 75 rue de la Loi B-1048 Brussels Belgium | 451 ave. Georges Henri B-1200 Brussels Belgium | Rue Wiertz B-1047 Brussels Belgium |
Source: ACP Secretariat. 2003. The Cotonou Agreement: A User's Guide for Non-State Actors
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In October 2005, Practical Action's Tinashe Nhete gave a presentation to the BOND event alongside the Development Ministers Meeting, in Leeds, UK. |
