Brussels, 11/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Monday and Tuesday 9-10 July, the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee adopted several reports on funding instruments for EU foreign policy for the 2014-2020 period. Committee chairman Emar Brok (EPP, Germany) said that these were, “key tools for the promotion of the Union's objectives and values in the world, based on democracy, the rule of law and human rights”.
The committee requested that the authors of the different reports on financial instruments begin negotiations with the Council after the summer. MEPs approved the reports on the Pre-Accession Instrument (PAI), the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) which is built on the “more for more” and “differentiation” principles, the Partnership Instrument (PI), the Stability Instrument (SI), which will be more geared towards peace, and the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).
MEPs highlighted the need for this policy to reflect the EU's goals and for it to be resource-efficient, effective and democratic. They would like these instruments to produce visible results on the ground and said that they needed to be prepared, implemented, followed up and evaluated in a way that was transparent and inclusive, on the basis of clear and measurable indicators. The foreign affairs committee also explained that partner countries should be involved at national, regional and local levels and at each stage of the planning, with particular attention being paid to civil society. MEPs also highlighted the necessity of greater coordination between the different financing tools and other funding from the EU, member states and worldwide, “in an effort to prevent overlapping and increase efficiency”.
MEPs also noted that Parliament and the Council delegate their powers to the Commission on preparation of all strategic planning documents over which they retain control. Parliament pointed out that it will have democratic control on the implementation of financial instruments. (CG/transl.fl)