Press Release: Governance at the heart of development cooperation: Commission proposes measures to foster reforms

The European Commission has adopted a Communication which proposes enhancing the means used to support governance and calls on the Member States to harmonise their work in this area. It advocates supporting the development of democratic institutions and processes more adapted to the needs of ordinary citizens, even the most marginalised, in the political, economic, social, cultural or environmental field. Poverty reduction, sustainable development and peace can be achieved only if significant progress is made towards democratic governance. The most important features of the proposed measures to encourage developing countries to step up their reform efforts are enhanced political dialogue, a common approach and a higher level of more effective assistance. Furthermore, an incentive envelope of €3 billion has been set aside for this purpose for the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.