€123 billion, or around 10% of the total budget, has been allocated to external action in the draft multiannual financial framework 2021-2027 of the EU, which was presented by the European Commission on Wednesday 2 May (see EUROPE 12013). European development NGOs have welcomed this amount, whilst expressing concern at the fact that the budget places the development funds under the heading of EU external policy.
The CONCORD network fears that merging 12 financial instruments could...