Aid analysts rap Commission

Date: 21/03/02

By David Cronin

THE European Commission has become embroiled in a row with development analysts over alleged threats not to pay consultants who pinpoint suspected irregularities in how EU aid programmes are run.

London-based consultants Development Strategies claim that officials at EuropeAid, the office which coordinates EU aid schemes, told them that they must not address 'audit and monitoring' issues and 'the contractors who transgress this rule will not be paid'.

The consultants have written to the Commission stating that they cannot work for it under such conditions. They had previously produced 12 'country strategy evaluations' for EuropeAid. One of those, on the €1 billion granted in assistance to Albania by the EU during the 1990s, contained stinging criticisms. It stated:

• There had been a 'total breakdown of team work' between the Commission's delegation in the country and its headquarters in Brussels;
• Officials in Brussels did not view some of the suspected irregularities, particularly in putting transport projects into effect, as seriously as their colleagues on the ground in Albania;
• 'Poor management' by the Commission meant that the impact of its aid on Albania's economic development was 'particularly limited'.

When publishing this study last year, the EuropeAid evaluation unit attached a covering note saying the consultants did not have 'a mandate to comment on the findings of past audit reports or on the possible existence of irregularities in the programmes under review'.

Jonathan Portes, a spokesman for the consultants, is troubled by the terms of reference followed by the evaluation unit.

'The word poverty is not mentioned once [in their latest version],' he said.

EuropeAid came into being in early 2001 as part of an overhaul of the Commission's external assistance programmes.

'Our recent experience has shown that increased aid disbursements since the creation of EuropeAid has often been accompanied by a further deterioration of aid implementation on the ground and a weakening of the poverty focus,' said Portes.

'As a result, the prospect of improving the low poverty impact of EU aid remains poor.'

In comments directed at External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, he added: 'The ability of Mr Patten's reforms to change this situation will depend crucially on the ability of the Commission to learn from past mistakes and to create an atmosphere of open debate and dialogue.

'This sadly is lacking at present.'

However, Anthony Cary and Claus Haugaard-Sorensen, senior advisers to Patten and Development Commissioner Poul Nielson, have rebutted these claims.

In a joint letter to Portes, they wrote: 'Interventions by the Commission services in previous evaluations have come about in practice only when there are factual errors, coverage of items not in the terms of reference, unfounded conclusions or failures of presentation.

'There has not been - and there will not be - any attempt to remove or manipulate material because it may be embarrassing to one or more of the stakeholders.'

The European Commission has become embroiled in a row with development analysts over alleged threats not to pay consultants who pinpoint suspected irregularities in how EU aid programmes are run.