Proposal for a Council Regulation on the implementation of the 11th European Development Fund

Poverty remains a major problem in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States. Many of them are off-track towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and they do not benefit from sustainable development. The EU is helping ACP countries address these problems. It is necessary for the EU to continue to support ACP countries' efforts towards reducing and eventually eradicating poverty, while attaining the objectives of sustainable development and achieving their gradual integration into the global economy.

The EU maintains privileged relations with the ACP group of developing countries under the Partnership Agreement between the ACP States of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 for a period of 20 years (hereinafter referred to as the Cotonou Agreement). The European Development Fund (EDF) is the main instrument for providing EU assistance for development cooperation under the Cotonou Agreement with ACP countries and for cooperation with Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) under the Overseas Association Decision (OAD). The EDF is funded outside the EU budget by the EU Member States on the basis of specific contribution keys. Each EDF is concluded for a multi-annual period.

For the post-2013 multiannual financial framework, the European Commission proposed in its Communication ‘A budget for Europe 2020’ the overall volume (€30,318.7 million in 2011 prices, i.e. €34,275.6 million in current prices) for the 11th EDF for cooperation with ACP countries and OCTs. The Commission also adopted a Communication describing the main elements that could figure in the Internal Agreement for the 11th EDF, for the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020.

The assumption of the European Commission is that an agreement will be reached by the European Union and its Member States on laying down the financing mechanism (the 11th EDF), the exact period to be covered (2014-2020) and the amount of funds to be allocated to that mechanism, for implementing the ACP-EU Partnership, and that the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States will agree on an Internal Agreement for an 11th EDF. The European Council set the global amount of the 11th EDF in its Conclusions on 8 February 2013 at €30,506 million in current prices.

New challenges, together with the priorities set out in the Europe 2020 Strategy, have prompted the Commission to make a proposal to adapt the 11th EDF Implementation Regulation in line with the Communication 'Increasing the Impact of EU Development Policy: An Agenda for Change' of 13 October 2011. The European Consensus on Development adopted on 22 December 2005 and the internationally agreed principles on aid effectiveness including the Busan Outcome Document (2011) also form part of the general policy framework for the programming and implementation of the 11th EDF.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)445: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:445:FIN

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