Paris, 12/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - Following a recent examination of European Community aid to the third world, the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for the Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has commended "the effort in development policy and management reform" and has encouraged the Commission to promote further its comparative advantage, to increase its visibility in the field, and to focus on measurable results in its regional and country programmes".
The DAC particularly welcomes the significant increase in Official Development Aid (ODA) in 2000 (+13.4%) and in 2001 (+21.1%) and the commitment obtained from the Commission in encouraging Member States to increase the average level of their ODA from 0.32% to 0.39% of their Gross national income. The Committee also underlines the quality of the work undertaken by the EU since 1998 to strengthen the development policy framework. The DAC noted, however, some major challenges for the EU in translating this poverty reduction into more effective ODA country allocations. It also considers that the EU should also aim to improve the developmental impact of its sectoral allocations, taking account of cross-cutting objectives of governance, gender equality and environment.
The DAC believes that the European Community's regional, sectoral and horizontal strategies now more clearly "display an overall sense of vision, though still requiring attention to implementation issues". The Committee also pointed out that the Country Strategy Papers (CSP) have become a central mechanism for developing policy coherence and co-ordination with Member States. And that there had been significant progress through the important "Everything but Arms" initiative. However, there is a need to take into account developing countries' interests in the European Community's internal policies, for example, the Common Agricultural Policy ad the Common Fisheries Policy.
The Committee is of the opinion that the European Commission has made substantial progress since January 2001, with organisational and management reforms of its development and humanitarian aid system. Of particular note are the improvements to accountability at all levels, the introductions of the CSP process, the speedy and efficient delivery of humanitarian aid, the clarification of links between relief and development, improved evaluation systems, and progress in the decision-making process with Member States and with "de-concentration" of authority to field officers". The DAC indicated, however, that there still several issues for the reform process that remained: sustaining political support, including more strategic roles for the Council and Parliament; developing organisational capacity to make de-concentration work; and ensuring appropriate and sufficient staffing to strengthen implementation".