EU Finance Ministers believe that improving the EU’s financial architecture for development, while complex, requires an evolution of what exists without any institutional upheaval.
“There is a consensus for the ‘status-quo plus’ option. We do not envisage any major institutional revision", confirmed the Vice-President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, on Friday 16 April at the end of the Ecofin Council.
He referred to the results of the independent study led by French expert Thierry Sénéchal, which compared three possible options for the evolution of the European financial architecture for development (see EUROPE 12680/22). The ‘status-quo plus’ option relies in particular on the network of national development banks and would provide the EU with the largest annual lending capacity of between €18.1 and €18.4 billion, compared to the other two options which require the creation of dedicated structures.
According to one source, “the lengthy discussion” at ministerial level on Friday, highlighted the desire of many Member States for greater cooperation between the EIB and the EBRD, including a clearer division of labour between the two financial organisations.
Work will continue at technical level and at the next ‘Development’ Council of the EU, with a view to the adoption of conclusions in May by the EU Finance and Development Ministers. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Aminata Niang)