Aid effectiveness criteria in the EU development cooperation programming process: what role for trade unions?

During the first meeting of the EU Policy Forum in May, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and DEVCO officials finally presented the EU development cooperation programming modalities (stating how to spend development cooperation budget), that will be applied from 2014 to 2020. It is interesting to note that the programming process was launched long before the very approval of the development cooperation instruments that are currently going through the EU legislative procedure.

Certainly, the innovative character of the whole programming exercise is represented by the prominent role given to partner countries’ ownership of development processes. This means that the EU will align to existing National Development Plans (NDPs) of the partner countries, which are supposed to spell out the needs and priorities for development financing. In doing so, the EU will need to synchronize planning cycles, granting the maximum extent of flexibility to respect countries’ systems. Finally, following the reinforced coordination sanctioned by the Lisbon Treaty, joint-programming processes with EU Member States Embassies is prioritized, although still based on a voluntary commitment.

What does it all mean in practice? As a matter of fact, the EU Delegations in partner countries will play a pivotal role in programming EU development cooperation. Delegations will be responsible for framing policy dialogues with partner countries’ institutions, determining strategic development priorities to be supported by the EU (according to the ‘concentration’ principle of the Agenda for Change, selecting three priority sectors for bilateral cooperation). Furthermore, once the Delegations have drafted a response proposal [1] on the basis of their assessment of the NDPs, it will need to be approved by headquarters, meaning the EEAS [2] and DEVCO. The whole programming process will last until the end of 2012, as 2013 will be then dedicated to identification and formulation of programs.

It seems clear that a stronger role will be played by the Member States, which will be capable to influence from the very start the EU programming process at country level, and also in a later stage at headquarters level. For sure, this setting goes towards the direction of reinforcing the EU development cooperation profile, hopefully enhancing coherence and division of labour among donors. However, some challenges still remain relevant.

The increased responsibility of the Delegations has to go hand in hand with improved capacity in engaging in political dialogues with partner country institutions, Member States’ diplomatic services, and last but not least, in involving civil society in policy dialogue. In this respect, we have to remind that the EU was one of the major supporters of the principle of democratic ownership in the development effectiveness discourses. In this sense, reinforcing political and operational capacity of the Delegations should become a priority objective. In addition to this, the political will of Member States will play a large role for the ‘joint programming’ to be translated in practice, considering potential bilateral interests, not only/always linked to development priorities.

All those elements make the political engagement of trade unions even more crucial. It will be fundamental that trade unions get involved during the programming phase both at county level and headquarters level. In partner countries, trade unions organizations should pro-actively connect with EU Delegations in order to influence objectives and strategies of EU development cooperation. The same is true for European trade unions vis-à-vis their own national governments/donor agencies. Finally, the newly constituted EU Policy Forum on Development should became a place for real debates on development priorities, where the ITUC/TUDCN is actively engaged.

Article by Paola Simonetti, ITUC - TUDCN

More information:

- Where to find the EU Delegation

Footnotes

[1This can also be a ‘joint proposal’ in the case of participation of EU Member States in the programming process.

[2The EEAS is one of the major novelties brought about by the Lisbon Treaty. Headed by the High Representative of Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, it has to grant the consistency of the Union’s external action including diplomacy, security, trade and development. The EEAS is composed by staff coming from the European Commission, the Council of the EU and EU Member States.