Brussels, 12/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Brussels on Thursday 12 May, the European development ministers stated that the joint programming of external aid by the EU and its member states is an essential collective tool for increasing the effectiveness of aid and should therefore be used to a greater extent and improved.
The unanimous conclusions adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council in its Development format underline the importance of this tool as part of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and for the implementation of commitments undertaken as part of the 2030 global sustainable development goals.
The Council states that the joint programming implemented in 55 countries as part of the 25 joint strategies adopted, or in the process of being developed, enables an increase in the effectiveness, coherence, transparency, predictability and visibility of external aid from the EU and its member states, facilitates the division of labour while avoiding duplication, and reduces the fragmentation of aid.
The Council thus asks the EU and its 28 member states to promote and strengthen this instrument. It also asks the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the services of the European Commission to report regularly on these joint exercises, and awaits results from the ongoing assessment of the joint programming of development aid to improve procedures and practices for it. The EEAS and Commission are asked to work on joint programming in the light of the comprehensive future EU strategy, of the revised neighbourhood policy and of the future revision of the European Consensus for Development establishing the vision, principles and framework of the EU's development policy. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)