The EC integrated project approach
In this section:
EuropeAid follows three approaches for delivering aid: the project approach, the sector approach and the macro/global approach.
The project approach is used to support initiatives outside the public sector, such as through civil society and the private sectors. Projects are also implemented where conditions do not permit the adoption of a sector approach or a budget support. Under the project approach partners enter at the programming stage by aligning their objectives with those of the programme for which they are applying.
In 1992 the European Commission adopted the “Project Cycle Management” (PCM) as its primary set of project design and management tools. PCM is a term used to describe the management activities and decision-making procedures used during the life cycle of a project (including key tasks, roles and responsibilities, key documents and decision options).
In 1993 the EC produced a manual that became the reference tool for EC task/project managers (in Delegations and in Brussels) and their official partners in third countries, but also assisted other stakeholders such as NGOs, non-state actors and consultants who were engaged in the design and delivery of EC financed projects and programmes. The manual was subsequently updated in 2001, shortly after the publication of the EC’s Development Policy document (April 2000). A decision was made in early 2003 to update the PCM manual again, since then referred to as the “PCM Guidelines”.
The PCM Guidelines have been prepared to support ongoing improvements in the quality of EC development assistance, defined primarily in terms of the relevance, feasibility and effectiveness of the programmes and projects supported with EC funds. They were thought to provide the development community with a framework for good management practices and effective decision-making throughout the project management cycle – from programming, through to identification, formulation, implementation and evaluation.
The duration and importance of each phase of the cycle varies among projects depending on their scale and scope, and on the specific operating modalities under which they are set up.
EuropeAid finances external actions to beneficiary countries through financing agreements, namely legal acts concluded with States, and by other means such as calls for project proposals and joint management in actions implemented by other international organisations. In the framework of the EC aid delivery methods, PCM helps to ensure that projects are supportive of the overarching policy objectives of the European Commission and of development partners; are relevant to an agreed strategy and to the real problems of target groups/beneficiaries; are feasible, meaning that objectives can be realistically achieved within the constraints of the operating environment and capabilities of the implementing agencies; and generate sustainable benefits.
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