European Development Fund
Legal basis: Regulation (EC) No 215/2008 of 18 February 2008 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the 10th European Development Fund
The European Development Fund (EDF) is the main instrument for providing EC development assistance to 78 African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (ACP) and Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT). It was established by the 1957 Treaty of Rome and is renewed every 5 years. Legally speaking, geographical cooperation with the ACP countries under the 10th EDF is governed by the ACP-EC partnership agreement signed in Cotonou in 2000 and revised in Luxembourg in 2005, while geographical cooperation with the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) is governed by the Overseas Association Decision of 27 November 2001, amended on 19 March 2007.
The EDF is funded by the Member States and is subject to its own financial rules. The EDF consists of several instruments, such as grants, risk capital and loans to the private sector. The Cotonou Agreement of 2000 abolished the Stabex and Sysmin instruments, which were designed to aid the agricultural and mining sectors. It also introduced a system of rolling programming, which means that the initial priorities and budget allocations agreed upon by the EC and ACP government/regional organisation during the programming phase can be revised, thus allowing for greater flexibility and giving the ACP States greater responsibility.
Objectives: The EDF has various objectives: achieving economic growth; human and social development; promoting the cultural values of communities; environmental sustainability; institutional reforms. It aims to promote several cross-cutting themes such as gender issues, environmental issues and institutional development and capacity building. In addition to these priority sectors, the EC launched new initiatives such as the EU-ACP Water Facility, the EU-ACP Energy Facility, the EU_Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund and the Edulink intra-ACP Programme for higher education.
The 10th EDF has been allocated 22.7 billion Euro, an increase of 35% with respect to the previous EDF which was worth 13.5 billion Euro. The 10th EDF's budget is divided as follows: € 21,966 million is allocated to the ACP countries, € 286 million to the OCT and € 430 million to the Commission for programming and implementation costs. Of the amount allocated to ACP countries, € 17,766 million is for the national and regional indicative programs, € 2,700 million for intra-ACP and intra-regional co-operation and € 1,500 million for Investment Facilities.
Eligible partners: As stated in Art. 6 of the Cotonou Agreement, actors eligible to participate to the ACP-EC cooperation are the following:
- State actors, including actors at local, national and regional levels;
- Non-state actors: the private sector, economic and social partners, including trade union organisations and civil society in all its forms.
To be eligible non-state actors must:
- address the needs of the population;
- have specific competencies;
- be organised and led democratically and transparently.
Non-state actors can participate in the ACP-EC Cooperation in the capacity of implementing agencies or partners in dialogue. In the first instance their objective shall be to improve the living conditions of populations or their access to social services by participating in tenders and calls for proposals relating to the implementation of EDF projects/programmes. As EC partners in dialogue their aim shall be to represent the views of non-state actors, and to consult with decision makers on the strategic and programmatic orientation of cooperation with the EC.
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