CONCORD FDR

The objective of CONCORD's FDR (Funding for Development and Relief) working group is to engage with the European Union (EU) on development aid issues, whether related to the programming of aid, a more technical engagement on contractual procedures, or a more qualitative effort of analysing and communicating the added value of NGOs as development actors and implementers of the aid of the European Commission (EC). The FDR has continued to discuss its future role and how it could better frame its work in an evolving policy environment, characterised by a lively debate on the role of NGOs in development. The group believes that it needs a better formulated, more focused vision of the whole system of EU aid, and the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in this.

Bond is represented on the FDR steering group by Joni Hillman, Donor Advocacy Officer in the Bond secretariat.

The FDR has four sub-groups, whose activities are covered by members of the Bond EC Funding Group steering committee:

DCI TP (Development Co-operation Instrument Thematic Programmes)
Deconcentration
Financial Regulation
Trends in CSO Funding

DCI TP (Development Co-operation Instrument Thematic Programmes)

It was decided in March 2008 that the FDR would follow most of the thematic programmes of the Development Cooperation Instrument, in particular Non-State Actors & Local Authorities (NSA/LA), Investing in People, and Food Security and Environment. Focal persons were assigned for each thematic programme and it was agreed that the sub-group would link and incorporate as much as possible with other existing (external or internal CONCORD) working groups: e.g: HIV Group, HRDN, Food Security Network. The group drew up a position paper on DCI thematic programmes (NSA & LA, IIP, FS and Environment) and this was distributed to member states and the European Commission. The main issues FDR has been addressing are:

Seeking greater efficiency with the allocation of more funds for civil society in both Thematic and Geographical budgets (present success rate around 10%, and for multi-country only 4%).
More respect for civil society's right of initiative: lobbying against a priority country list, or too-narrow eligibility criteria for civil society partners or intervention sectors.
Better dialogue with CSOs in North and South: a real consultation process when designing priorities, higher predictability of Calls and better access to information.

FDR/CONCORD was not 100% successful in changing the 2008 annual action plans (AAP). Though the sub-group (and FDR Group as a whole) had argued against combining the 2008 + 2009 budgets, at their June Council meeting the member states decided to combine them, just for this year . However, the FDR did achieve some breakthroughs:

The EC has issued written instructions to all Delegations to organise consultation sessions with civil society in advance of the programming of local Calls;
The EC has agreed to compile a timetable for local Calls, to improve predictability.

The FDR attended several meetings: Thematic Programmes training for Delegations in Brussels in January 2008; Regional Seminars on Thematic Programmes in April and June 2008; Preparatory DCI Meeting on the 11 April; Consultative Meeting of the EC on 30 April; bilateral meeting held with Mr Cardao and Mr Ridolfi resulting in the presence of Mr Ridolfi and Ms Teufel at the FDR's June meeting.

Deconcentration

In May 2008 the FDR Deconcentration Sub-group issued its "Third De-concentration Monitoring Report". CONCORD still observes differences in the interpretation of legal and financial regulations as well as differing and conflicting management practices in local delegations, since the deconcentration process (from the EC Headquarters in Brussels to the delegations) started in 2004.

The sub-group discussed the third report and its recommendations with EuropeAid in June 2008, and participated, on behalf of CONCORD, in regional training seminars (Porto Alegre in April 2008, and Yaoundé in June 2008 - Asia follows in October). This year, the EC again sent the relevant FDR documents (such as the Deconcentration Monitoring Report and Financial Regulation Readers) directly from Headquarters to the delegations.

Financial Regulation

Work on a reader on the 2006 and 2007 standard grant contracts (February 2006, August 2006 and December 2007 versions). On 25 April 2008 a meeting took place with EuropeAid G7, in charge of financial, legal and contractual matters, to discuss further the interpretations of the 2007 version of the grant standard contract. The 2006-2007 reader will be finalised and presented at the next FDR plenary session in mid November 2008. It will have 3 annexes:

applicable rules of nationality and origin, including for the new 2007-2013 instruments;
a memo that will summarise all the recommendations and answers given by EuropeAid G7 on the financial reporting template; and
a list of outstanding questions on the 2007 reader.

A list of Frequently Asked Questions on PADOR (Potential Applicants Data Online Registration) was gathered and circulated in March 2008. This document is available upon request from the CONCORD secretariat. In addition, a user-friendly note to help CSOs to register in the database, and especially local NGOs, will be finalised and circulated for the next FDR meeting in mid November 2008. At the end of September 2008 some comments on the application templates, as well as the guidelines for calls for proposals, were sent to EuropeAid, Unit F4, which is currently revising these documents. The document is available upon request from the CONCORD secretariat.

On 26 June 2008 the sub-group participated in a public hearing of the European Parliament regarding the revision of the Financial Regulation expected in 2010. This was an opportunity to stress the following issues:

On the Financial Regulation and its implementing rules:

Need to regroup the amendments to the Financial Regulation and its implementing rules every three years so as to ensure a stable contractual environment;
Need to revise the Financial Regulation and its implementing rules to ensure a proportionate control of grant beneficiaries;
Ensure the eligibility of VAT when it cannot be re-claimed, regardless of the instruments concerned;
Authorise the use of current exchange rates.

On the EuropeAid practical Guide and its annexes:

Need to develop a common manual for all users of the practical guide, both EC Delegations and grant - beneficiaries;
Need to establish an arbitration mechanism in case of disagreements that cannot be solved at Delegation level;
Continue and increase the regular training provided on the practical guide and its annexes, at delegation level and for grant beneficiaries.

Trends in CSO Funding

The Trends in EU Funding group has been working on finalising their report, "A Study of Quantitative and Qualitative Trends in NGO cofinancing by the European Commission and EU Member States" (for distribution in the second half of the year). It has also defined some key messages, which can be used to lobby further for increased access for civil society organisations (especially NGOs) and for improving the relationship between civil society and the EC and Member States.

Overall, the study served to quantify and deepen the understanding of EU NGOs and to correct or clarify perceptions about EU funding trends. In general, the trends identified and deduced by CONCORD members were confirmed by the evidence.

Some of the conclusions reflect and repeat calls by the CONCORD's AidWatch Group, and the work of the different groups can be seen as complementary. The sub-group has also provided input into the EC's "Evaluation of EC aid delivery through civil society organisations" (carried out by ECDPM and Forim) and the European Court of Auditors' evaluation of "Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other Non-State Actors (NSAs) in EC development cooperation".

Contact EC Funding Group for more information