In an effort to improve aid for trade effectiveness granted by the EU to developing countries and to align this aid policy on universal sustainable development goals, the European Commission unveiled its guidelines on Tuesday 14 November, which it will be proposing for updating its 10-year old strategy in this area.
The communication it has adopted on this revised strategy essentially proposes to strengthen coordination for this kind of aid (more than €13.6 billion a year promised by the EU and its member states for 2015 alone) with other instruments and to improve trade aid targeting the countries that most need it.
The Commission is therefore proposing to improve the coordination of trade aid financing instruments at European and national levels.
It is seeking to combine more targeted trade aid for the least developed and most fragile countries with tailor-made approaches that respond to the specificities of the different countries.
The Commission is proposing to improve synergies between aid for trade and other instruments, such as the EU’s trade agreements, trade systems such as the SPG, European External Investment Fund for principally leveraging €44 billion in private investments for Africa, as well as for the EU’s neighbouring countries.
Aid for trade efficiency that serves sustainable development and inclusive growth also depends on the commitments made by the different actors, such as the private sector, civil societies and the local authorities, explains the Commission. The structured dialogue with these different actors is one of the ways it is suggesting to achieve this objective. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)