Tag: development aid

INFOGRAPHIC / Andris Piebalgs, the European development commissioner, has called on EU member countries to compensate the aid cuts from the bloc's long-term budget that were agreed by EU leaders at a summit last Friday.

As EU leaders meet tomorrow (7 February) for a two-day summit to ink out a deal on the Union's long-term budget for 2014-2020, diplomats said it was “now or never” for them to agree. Indeed, the political calendar of countries like Germany would make it much more difficult to reach a compromise before the 2014 European elections. 

Conservatives opposed to using EU development aid to finance family planning services in poor nations have succeeded in recent years in reducing support for reproductive health services in poor nations, say health advocates who are now bracing for further cuts.

EU aid is not only morally right, it’s an economically sound investment. EU humanitarian and development aid is deemed to be one of the most efficient, impactful and transparent sources of funding in the world, say Natalia Alonso, Tim Roosen, Karen Schroh and Eloise Todd.

Whether or not Britain chooses to turn back the clock on its EU membership, the country is likely to remain an important player in Europe’s overseas development policies.

While France is engaged in a war with jihadists in Mali, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels today (17 January) are expected to insist on the bloc's longer-term role, saying they will unfreeze development aid money as soon as the country commits to an election roadmap.

INTERVIEW / Kristalina Georgieva, the European Union's humanitarian aid commissioner, told EurActiv she was reasonably confident that the EU’s aid funding would not fall victim to the push by some EU member states to slash the EU budget for 2014-2020. But she also vowed to fight to preserve humanitarian aid, with “no apologies” made to detractors. 

Europe will not disintegrate and will remain a great power in 2030, but the key question is whether the EU will punch its collective weight in the future, says a recent US intelligence report which draws three possible scenarios for the Union – decline, collapse or renaissance.

EU’s collective aid levels went down last year and Germany, France and Italy are responsible for 68% of the funding gap. Meanwhile, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria and Greece have achieved less than 25% of their spending promises made to Africa, says Eloise Todd.

As the European Union embarks on a major revamp of its aid policies to the developing world, the Francophonie organisation believes its close ties with French-speaking African nations can help the Union with "political mobilisation" on development issues.

European countries reduced their overall development aid budgets in 2011, with some such as Greece and Spain implementing massive cuts in the wake of economic difficulties, according to OECD figures published yesterday (4 April).

The EU's Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik says he will “test the waters” on his priorities for the June Earth Summit during ministerial meetings in Nairobi that began today (20 February).

The EU, which is the world's biggest aid donor and gives over €53 billion a year to developing countries, could save €4 billion by managing more effectively the grants and loans it provides to help reduce poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said yesterday (18 August) that she would strive to make sure that the EU, which is usually the biggest donor in disaster areas, sees its flag fly. She claimed this had not been possible so far because humanitarian organisations responsible for distributing EU aid had insisted on pushing their brand instead.