On Wednesday 18 April, the European Parliament carried out a fairly critical examination of the implementation of the nine external financing instruments of the European Union. Over the period 2014-2020, the EU allocated €51.8 billion to its external action, €32 billion of which was channelled via these instruments.
The report by Marietje Schaake (ALDE, Netherlands), which the MEPs adopted by 462 votes to 82 with 151 abstentions, regrets that the quantity and lack of flexibility and coherence in EU funding denote the EU's limited ambition to act as a genuinely global player. Parliament believes it is vital for the instruments to complement each other, to be adaptable to the local context and able rapidly and effectively to face new and unexpected challenges without losing sight of their initial objectives.
The Parliament regrets that the EU budget's contributions to the trust funds and facility for refugees in Turkey limit the overall coherence, long-term prospects and impact of EU action. The new priorities must be paid for out of new credits, it adds.
In the post-2020 multiannual financial framework, the MEPs call for the financing of the instruments - which they consider should be reformed - to be linked to ambitious external actions. Additionally, the budget of the EU as a global player should be increased, they argue. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)