EU institutional reforms

The European External Action Service one year on

CONCORD, the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development, together with Bond, have launched a report on the first year of the European External Action Service (EEAS).

The report, released a year after the establishment of the EEAS, follows the publication of the EEAS's own report on its first year.

The CONCORD report finds that the European Union is marginalising anti-poverty objectives within the EEAS and that the EEAS has done little to prioritise Policy Coherence for Development in its programmes.

Recommendations

CONCORD and Bond have five key recommendations:

1. The EEAS should develop a narrative on EU development cooperation and its interaction with security and human rights policies.
2. In the interests of transparency and accountability, the EEAS and The European Commission should complete and publicise the Memorandum of Understanding on how they will divide tasks and responsibilities for development.
3. The High Representative should acknowledge her role in making Policy Coherence for Development a reality through the EEAS, particularly its delegations.
4. Expertise on development policy and practice must be present at all levels in the institutions, including the EEAS.
5. At the delegation level, both the EEAS and the European Commission's Development and Cooperation - EuropeAid should work more actively to engage in political and policy dialogue with stakeholders including CSOs and NGOs, who know the context of human rights and poverty on the ground and can help to shape strategies to tackle it.

CONCORD have also issued a press release about the report.

EU institutional changes

Following the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, the EU institutional landscape has undergone a number of changes, some of which are very relevant to development because they affect EU External Action. Those include:

• The creation of the post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. This new EU foreign policy chief permanently chairs ministerial meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council as well as serving as Vice-President of the Commission.

• The High Representative is supported by the European External Action Service (EEAS), a new EU institution made up of national and EU diplomats and officials from the Commission. The EEAS has responsibility for providing staff for EU Delegations in third countries. The EU Delegations replace the old EC Delegations.

Baroness Catherine Ashton was appointed to the post of High Representative in December 2009 and spent the whole of 2010 drafting and agreeing a proposal for setting up the new EEAS. The EEAS started working officially on 1 January 2011.

At the same time the European Commission has been reviewing its own structures in relations to development and a new Directorate General, Development and Cooperation - EuropeAid, was created on 1 January by merging Development and EuropAid. The new Directorate General comes under the responsibility of the Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs.

Bond and CONCORD position

The Lisbon Treaty identifies development cooperation as a separate and independent policy area with EU competency, and identifies poverty eradication as the principal objective. It also establishes that development policy provides the principal framework for the EU's relations with all developing countries as defined by the OECD Development Assistance Committee and that all policies impacting on developing countries should be coherent with development policy objectives.

The current institutional changes present a potential risk for development to be subordinated to EU foreign policy and security interests if appropriate mechanisms are not put in place to ensure that the Commissioner for Development has control over development spending and that decisions are taken on the basis of development needs and according to development objectives. 

In full respect of these Treaty provisions and of principles and commitments at the core of EU Development Policy, Bond and CONCORD have identified a series of safeguards and recommendations that should be put in place to ensure that these principles are upheld. These include ensuring that effective dialogue and coordination mechanisms are put in place between the different institutions and Directorates General dealing with developing countries. Furthermore, expertise on development policy and practice must be present at all levels of the institutions.

For more informationlook at the resources listed on the side bar on this page. To know more about current Bond's work in relation to EU Institutional Reform, contact Bond's EU Policy Officer.

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Links

Concord position paper 'The EU’s New External Action Architecture: putting sustainable development, human rights, gender equality and human security at its core'

Bond Briefing paper on 'EU Institutional Reforms: Implications for international development and humanitarian assistance'

Concord recommendations for safeguarding development policy principles and objectives in the future EU institutional framework

Concord Position paper on EU institutional reforms

ODI publication 'New Challenges, New Beginnings. Next Steps in European Development Cooperation'

ODI background note 'Options for architectural reform in European Union development cooperation'

'EU Elections signal wind of change' article outlining the implications that EU institutional reform has for development

Bond position paper on the Lisbon Treaty and its implications for development

CONCORD's recommendations on the European External Action Service