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EC aid in figures

The EU is the principal source of development aid worldwide. Moreover, aid granted by the EC on behalf of the Community is consistently on the rise: 8.7 billion Euro in 2007 as against 7.6 billion in 2006. Based on existing commitments, forecasts of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) suggest that the EU will contribute more than 90% of the global increase in official development aid from 2007 to 2010.

Four member states (Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden, and Luxembourg) have already achieved the United Nations objective of setting aside 0.70% of their GNI for development assistance by 2015.

Collectively the EU awarded more that 46 billion Euro in external assistance in 2007 (i.e. 60% of the world public aid), amounting at 0.4% of EU gross national income, allocated as follows:

  • 37.2 billion Euro for bilateral aid granted by the member states
  • 8.7 billion Euro awarded by the Commission on the Community’s behalf.

Aid programming and responsibility for aid effectiveness are shared between EuropeAid and the external assistance policy-making, Directorates-General (DG) Development and External Relations.

Aid delivery by Region

EuropeAid draws on the expertise of a wide range of partners and of financial instruments and programmes when delivering EU aid in the following regions:

  • Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP countries). Since 1990, Commission funding for ACP countries has risen steadily each year in real terms – and now it is spending more than ever before on aid for trade. Since 2001, more than €850 million of Commission funds have been used to help ACP regions to boost trade and integrate into the world economy. The Commission finances most of its development programmes for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) partner countries through the European Development Fund (EDF): between 2003 and 2007, the 9th EDF provided €15.2 billion to ACP countries. The 10th EDF runs from 2008 to 2013, and is scheduled to give out payments of €22.7 billion.
  • Asia. The European Commission set out a co-operation strategy with Asia based on a partnership approach in its Communication Strategic Framework for Enhanced Partnerships (2001). A global allocation of €5.187 million has been made to Asia for the next seven years, 2007-2013. The programmable funding is allocated as follows: 81% to development assistance for individual countries, 16% to regional assistance, and 3% as a reserve. By 2006, 40% of assistance given in the Asia region was already targeting one or more MDG, and over €2 billion will be targeting the MDGs in Asia and Central Asia over the four-year 2007-2010.
  • Gulf region. EU assistance to Yemen, Iran and Iraq is covered through the new Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) which came into force in 2007. Commission support to these countries reflects the local political, economic and social circumstances, as well as the state of their relations with the European Union. Co-operative activities cover a broad range of issues including human rights, good governance, capacity building and economic development.
  • Latin America. Cooperation with this region is decided by the DGs Development and External Relations. The priorities for EU-Latin American co-operation have been defined in the summits which took place in Rio (1999), Madrid (2002), Guadalajara (2004), Vienna (2006) and Lima (2008). The EU is the leading investor in the region and the second trading partner of Latin America. For the 2007-2013 period, EU assistance amounts to around € 3 billion, while for the same period the European Investment Bank is authorized to lend up to €2.8 billion.
  • European Union’s southern and eastern neighbours. Cooperation with this region is coordinated through the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI). The ENPI has been operational since January 2007 and it is the main source of funding for 17 countries (ten Mediterranean and six Eastern European countries, plus Russia). The ENPI replaces the co-operation programmes TACIS (for the Eastern European countries) and MEDA (for the Mediterranean countries). The overall allocation for the ENPI instrument amounts to almost €12 billion for the seven-year period 2007-2013. This represents an increase of 32%, in real terms, compared with the amount available over the period 2000-2006 for the MEDA and TACIS programmes.





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