About EuropeAid
In this section:
The Reform of the EC External Assistance
The foundation of EuropeAid is the result of an important and far-reaching plan to reform the overall programming and management mode of the Commission's external assistance (RELEX), adopted on March 1st 2000. The reform strategy was built around three related themes: comprehensive reform of personnel policy; thorough modernisation of financial management and control; and a new system of strategic planning. These principles were amply developed and treated in the Commission's White Paper [COMM(2000)] of April 2000, where, together with the reform programme, the Commission published an articulated action plan and timetable for action.
Among the major factors that brought about the need for reforming the EC RELEX system were the exponential growth of EC flows of external assistance; an inappropriate adaptation in human resources, structures and management tools; and weak programming. The RELEX reform aimed primarily to make radical improvements in the speed, quality and profile of EU external aid. In particular, the reform's core objectives were:
- to reduce substantially the time taken to implement approved projects;
- to make significant improvements in the quality and responsiveness of project management;
- ensure robust financial, technical and contractual management procedures in line with best international standards of propriety and accountability;
- to improve the impact and visibility of EC development cooperation and aid.
Changes envisaged
The first point tackled was improving the quality and consistency of programming needs. To this end an interdepartmental Quality Support Group would be established with the major scope of monitoring the course of programming, identifying best practices, disseminating results, and proposing necessary improvements. To realize EU's policy objectives and priorities, the Commission started to programme its external assistance on the basis of multi-annual Country Strategy Papers, rendered operational since 2001. This procedure was a cornerstone of the reform and had the purpose of achieving greater coherence between the EU's strategic priorities among the regions, producing the right policy mix for each partner country, and making sure that the most appropriate intervention sectors are selected for the medium term.
The second important need identified and envisaged was that of reunifying the project cycle from identification through full implementation, and place it in the hands of a single implementing body. This resulted in the transformation of the Common Service for External Relations (SCR) into an office that would coordinate the implementation of external aid.
In its final form, after externalization, this office became the EuropeAid Cooperation Office, which operates upon policy programming of DGs Relex and Development.
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