Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of macro-financial assistance to third countries in 2014

Macro-financial assistance, or MFA, is an EU financial instrument designed to address exceptional external financing needs of countries that are geographically, economically and politically close to the EU. Its objective is to strengthen macroeconomic and financial stability in candidate and potential candidate countries and in countries in the European Neighbourhood, while encouraging the implementation of appropriate structural reforms. It complements and is conditional on the existence of an adjustment and reform programme agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). MFA is a balance of payments support instrument. It takes the form of either loans, for which the Commission borrows the necessary funds in capital markets and on-lends them to the beneficiary country, or, under certain circumstances, grants financed by the EU budget.

2014 was characterised by progress in the implementation of several previously delayed MFA operations (for Georgia, Jordan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tunisia) and the rapid deterioration of the political and economic situation in Ukraine, which triggered a number of large-scale MFA operations.

This annual report is prepared in accordance with the Commission’s information obligations as laid down in the various Council and joint European Parliament and Council decisions regarding MFA operations. It is accompanied by a Commission staff working document providing more detailed information on, and analysis of, the macroeconomic context and implementation of individual MFA operations.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2015)290: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2015:290:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2015)115: Background analysis per beneficiary country http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2015:115:FIN

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