11/08/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has adopted its annual report on development policy and foreign aid. In the brief report for 2003, the Commission congratulates itself on progress achieved by the reforms of foreign aid since 2000, giving a very general description of current programmes. It says it has undertaken to improve the global partnership between the North and the South and improve the coherence and impact of foreign aid. In 2003, the Commission managed EUR 7.8 billion of aid commitments and EUR 5.8 billion in aid payments, for some 140 countries around the world. Including funding provided by Member States, the European Union accounted for half of all development aid in the world in 2003, namely EUR 30 billion. (The annual report can be accessed on the Commission's website: http: //europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2004/com2004_0536en01.pdf)