EU aid to Africa blocked in "legal and funding delays"

from The Rwanda Information Exchange

European Development Ministers meeting today and tomorrow in Bonn must act immediately to break through "legal and funding delays" and deliver untied and targeted aid to the world's poorest countries, said a coalition of European and International development NGOs working under the Concord Cotonou aid umbrella.

Aid promised by the European Union to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries under the European Development Fund (EDF) package is simultaneously being blocked in bureaucracy and made conditional on the signature of unfair trade agreements set to come into force at the end of this year.

"In the state it is in, ACP countries should not expect EU aid to right the wrongs of the unfair trade deals they are asked to sign," said Rein Antonissen, Chair of the Concord Cotonou Aid Group. "Quality aid must not be lost in a legal and financial loophole where the stakes are so high".

Close to one-third of the €9 billion allocated to the 9th EDF was still available at the end of 2005.

And as the European Commission and EU governments continue to assess how to reallocate the unspent sums there is no clear logic on where the money is going and how it is being spent.

In 2000 there was a delay of almost two years between approval and ratification of the Cotonou Agreement between the EU and ACP countries. And now that the EU has expanded to 27 countries there is a serious risk that not one cent will be spent before 2010 when the 10th

European Development Fund is ratified.

"While funds do not leave Brussels in time, money that is unspent by the ACP countries is re-allocated without any clear criteria on how this is done," said Antonissen. "Health, education and rural development priorities are being ignored and it is likely that ACP countries will end up receiving less real aid then they ever did before".

Even though Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mauritius have received substantial extra funding as part of this reallocation process, others such as Uganda, Sudan and Botswana have received none. Senegal, Malawi and Chad have also had money withdrawn from them, even though they have a high commitment rate and their administrations have shown a clear capacity to absorb EU aid effectively.

"The coming years will be of critical importance if we are to see any tangible progress towards meeting the UN's Millennium Development Goals and the chance to reduce extreme poverty by 2015," said Hussaini Abdu, from ActionAid International Regional Governance Coordinator for Africa. "The EU needs to support the rights of Africa's poor to health, education and accountable governance by ensuring delivery on existing commitments to the ownership by African states of their own policy priorities".

Initial findings indicate that 63 out of 77 ACP countries are not to receive funds for health and education as part of the new 10th EDF. Instead, the Commission is seeking to increase

allocations to promoting trade and ‘good governance' focusing on economic liberalisation rather than the eradication of poverty.

"It is inexcusable that the Commission now seems to behaving as if those commitments were never made and is following an agenda that sends the wrong signals about Europe's role in the wider world," added Abdu.