On Wednesday 18 September, the European Commission defended its management of the financial aid allocated to the Secretariat of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), in the face of questions raised by a journalist from the Devex media about missed repayment deadlines and a potential freeze on funding.
The Commission’s financial support for the OACPS Secretariat, based in Brussels, has been called into question because, according to the journalist, “millions of euros” of debts remain unpaid and there are doubts about the organisation’s ability to repay these amounts.
Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero replied on Wednesday that “discussions are ongoing on the pending recovery from past payments”, admitting that “problems” had been “identified”. However, the amount of the payments in question was not specified.
“The Commission has been in regular dialog with the OACPS Secretariat. These discussions continue in order to ensure that all the necessary measures are taken to ensure financial sustainability of the Secretariat, as well as the sound financial management of the EU financial support provided”, added the spokeswoman. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)