Europe: opportunity or threat?
Jenny Brown explains why Europe is so important to
UK NGOs and how, through the Bond European Policy Group, Bond members can make
a difference to EU policy and practice.
Development agencies cannot afford to ignore the EU. If we do, we miss the chance to influence the world's biggest aid donor, and a major player on, for instance, trade and climate. The EU has increasing global influence, and reaches into many other inter-governmental structures. Politically and as a donor it has a massive impact on the lives of the world's poorest people, and we need to make sure that impact is positive. And that's where Bond comes in.
Influencing the EU through Bond
Influencing the EU requires understanding of how its institutions work, and what's going on, and few agencies are able to stay on top of relevant information and processes on their own. The Bond European Policy Group (EPG) provides a forum for sharing information, and for undertaking joint advocacy on issues of fundamental importance. Influencing EU policy, even more than UK-focused advocacy, is far more effective when done together and Bond through the EPG is a respected contributor in both London and Brussels.
The direction and principles of EU policies are set by the member states (the Council), with the detail being fleshed out by the Commission and Parliament. The EPG starting point for advocacy is therefore the UK Government as a member state.
We meet regularly with DFID, and other Government departments to ensure that the UK promotes policies in the Council that are the best possible for development. Crucially, Bond has put a lot of time into getting to know and understand the new Government - these relationships will be vital as we continue to promote our development agenda in the context of the continuing financial crisis.
There are 27 member states, and however supportive the UK Government might be the others also need to be persuaded. Bond is an active and influential member of CONCORD, the cross-EU coordination of development networks and national platforms, and plays a significant role in its strategic thinking and policy development. Through CONCORD, the EPG's impact extends beyond the UK, supporting advocacy in many other member states as well as in Brussels.
Benefit to Bond members
For Bond members, the EPG is an important resource. At Christian Aid we recognise the need to influence the EU on a wide range of development and budget policies, to ensure a policy framework which enables rather than impedes our work with partners to eradicate poverty. But we, like other agencies, do not have the capacity to work on all the relevant issues so we are committed to support the EPG as a way of adding value to our own work and progressing our own priority issues including tax and climate change.
Recent achievements
Through lobbying HMG and through CONCORD, the EPG helped achieve significant changes to the initial proposals for the EU's current budget priorities (‘Financial Perspectives'). Eventually development was confirmed as a core and separate element rather than as part of the wider foreign policy section with all the risks that that would carry.
Ahead of the European Parliament elections in June 2009, the EPG produced a manifesto that was used as the basis for contact with UK MEP candidates. Following the elections we met with a number of UK MEPs and have established on-going relationships.
The EPG worked closely with CONCORD on the institutional reforms emerging from the Lisbon Treaty, and produced briefings which were referred to with appreciation in high-level political fora. Thanks to the work of the EPG and colleagues across Europe the proposals look set to be much more protective of development as a separate priority. That is a real triumph, but we continue to monitor and respond.
What's next?
Negotiations for the next Financial Perspectives are about to start and we are ready. We will work on an EU strategy following the MDG Review Summit to push the EU to make a major contribution towards the achievement of the MDGs. We will continue to encourage the EU's commitment to policy coherence for development, and we will continue to cooperate with others across Bond, including the Funding, Climate and European Neighbourhood Groups, as well as with external networks such as the UK Aid Network.
Much of what Bond members do has an actual or potential EU angle and together we can identify and support these opportunities to great effect. The EPG is at the centre of the action - join us!
Jenny Brown is Senior EU Relations Advisor at Christian Aid and on the Steering Committee of the Bond European Policy Group.
Read more about the Bond European Policy Group and our work in Europe.
