Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken
---
Aan de Voorzitters van de Algemene Commissie
voor Europese Zaken en van de Vaste Commissie voor Buitenlandse Zaken van de
Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal Binnenhof 4 Den Haag Directie Integratie
Europa Bezuidenhoutseweg 67 2594 AC Den Haag
Datum 15 februari 2002 Auteur P. J. Kleiweg de Zwaan
Kenmerk DIE/069 Telefoon 31-70-348 5819
Blad /2 Fax 31-70-348 6381
Bijlage(n) Rapport van de Europese Commissie E-mail
pj.kleiweg@minbuza.nl
Betreft Vraag van het lid Hoekema inzake hervormingen van de externe
hulpprogramma's van de Europese Commissie
Zeer geachte Voorzitter,
Tijdens het Algemeen Overleg d.d. 7 februari jl. ter voorbereiding op de
informele Algemene Raad van 8-9 februari en de Algemene Raad van 18
februari, was mijn collega Minister Van Aartsen wegens tijdgebrek niet in de
gelegenheid om antwoord te geven op de vraag van het lid Hoekema over de
hervormingen die de Europese Commissie doorvoert bij haar externe
hulpprogramma's. Mede namens de Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken voldoe ik
met deze brief graag aan de door hem gedane toezegging.
Deze hervormingen werden ingezet kort na het aantreden van de Commissie
Prodi, en bevatten de volgende hoofdcomponenten:
1. Meer aandacht voor strategische beleidsprogrammering (onder meer door het
opstellen van meerjaren landenprogramma's);
2. Delegatie van de uitvoering naar de delegaties van de Europese Commissie
in de ontvangende landen ("deconcentratie");
3. Oprichting van een separaat uitvoeringorgaan binnen de Commissie
("EuropeAid");
4. Vereenvoudiging van de uitvoeringsprocedures waardoor de programma's
sneller ten uitvoer kunnen worden gelegd;
5. Meer aandacht voor beleidsevaluatie en "lessons learned";
6. Adequater financieel beheer;
7. Betere afstemming met andere donoren (zowel andere lidstaten als
Internationale Financiële Instellingen en de VN);
8. Nauwere afstemming en beter overleg met de ontvangen landen (ownership).
Als bijlage gaat U toe de voortgangsrapportage over de hervormingen die de
Europese Commissie zal bespreken met de lidstaten op de Algemene Raad van 18
februari.
De Minister voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking
Eveline Herfkens
Reform of the Management of EU External Assistance
Progress Report
On 16 May 2000, the Commission launched a programme of reform of the
management of external assistance .
The principal objectives of this reform are to:
¬ Improve the quality of projects and programmes;
¬ Reduce the time needed for implementation;
¬ Ensure that procedures for financial, technical and contractual management
conform to the highest international standards; and
¬ Increase the impact and visibility of the European Union's (EU's) external
assistance.
The present report focuses on the following key elements of the reform
process:
¬ Increased focus on strategy and programming of external assistance;
¬ The reunification of the project cycle and the creation of EuropeAid
Co-operation Office;
¬ Devolving significant project management to the Commission's delegations
("deconcentration");
¬ Improving financial management and performance.
It concludes with some recent examples of good practice.
1. Strategic programming and increased focus on evaluation
a) Programming
Programming is now centred on Country/Regional Strategy Papers (CSP/RSP)
which set out a 'strategic framework' for the EC's co-operation priorities
in a given country or region . This is the first time that the
Commission has set up a coherent framework for its relations with third
countries covering both development assistance and other essential relevant
Community policies (the 'policy mix').
In 2001, the Commission initiated the process of establishing Country and
Regional Strategy Papers for partners in all concerned regions (ACP, ALA,
CARDS, MEDA, TACIS). These new strategies have been developed in
collaboration with national governments, Member States, other bilateral
multilateral donors and, wherever possible, with representatives of civil
society . Over 100 country and regional strategies are either completed
or well advanced in the preparation process. All will be finalised during
the next few months.
An inter-service Quality Support Group (iQSG) has been created. Its main
task has been to assess draft Country and Regional Strategy Papers and
Indicative Programmes and propose any necesary improvements in order to
ensure a consistently high quality. In order to achieve maximum impact, the
iQSG intervenes at an early stage in the programming process. It has so far
screened 104 programming documents.
The main yardstick for iQSG assessment has been the Common Framework for
Country Strategy Papers adopted by the Council. In addition to commenting
on format, style, presentation and general readibility, the iQSG has
endeavoured to focus on certain core aspects:
¬ The quality of the assessment of the potential for development, the needs
and the constraints thwarting the development process;
¬ The coherence between the analysis and the proposed Community response
strategy, checking whether EC interventions correspond to key medium term
development challenges;
¬ The poverty focus of the proposed strategy as well as coherence with other
EC policy objectives;
¬ The focus / degree of concentration;
¬ The degree of complementarity between EC support and that of other donors,
in particular EU Member States,
¬ The conditions under which support is granted;
¬ The definition of indicators designed to show the impact of the Community
resources committed.
¬ The extent to which all external assistance provided by the Community to
the country concerned is covered (coherence between country allocation and
horizontal budget lines);
¬ The consideration given to coherence between development policy and other
EC policies relevant for the partner country / region ('policy mix').
The Commission considers that a qualitative leap in EC programming of
external assistance has been achieved. Overall, the documents answer most
of the requirements set out in the CSP Framework. But the strategy papers
can of course be further improved. With the objective of strengthening the
programming process, the Commission will make an analysis of the lessons
learnt so far through the iQSG process and propose improvements for the next
review of Country Strategy Papers.
The iQSG has also drafted Guidelines on the implementation of the Common
Framework for Country Strategy Papers and organised three training seminars
on programming. Finally, the iQSG has established a website on the
Commission's Intranet to improve the internal communication between all
involved in programming.
b) Co-ordination between Member States and Commission
The establishment of the programming documents provided a concrete opportunity to implement the Council and Commission guidelines, agreed during last year's orientation debate , for improved operational co-ordination between the EC and MemberStates covering all countries receiving external assistance from the Union. Commission and Member States have considerably improved co-ordination on the ground, discussing draft CSPs and ensuring complementarity between Community assistance and bilateral aid programmes. Further progress on co-ordination will be expected in the implementation phase of assistance programmes and will certainly be facilitated by the deconcentration of their management to EC delegations.
c) Evaluation
The reform also calls for evaluation to be strengthened and for it to be
better integrated into the project cycle. A specific training course
concerning project evaluation, integrated with PCM training, was introduced
in 2001. Since 2001, the Evaluation Unit has managed evaluations of the
results of country/regional and sectoral policies and programmes and
programming performance under the direct authority of the Board of
EuropeAid. During 2001, the Evaluation Unit focused on the following
themes: human rights, governance and democracy, country programming, and
economic co-operation. The results of the completed evaluations have had a
direct impact on the programming process. In a number of cases, country
strategy and programming papers refer specifically to the recommendations of
evaluation reports, and programme focus and prioritisation have been adapted
accordingly.
The Board of EuropeAid Co-operation Office approved, at its meeting on 29
November 2001, a strategy for evaluating the sectoral, thematic, country and
regional programmes for the period until 2006. The Evaluation Unit has been
asked to develop techniques tailored to programmes (and not limited to a
project approach) and designed to increase the quality of the evaluations
conducted by external independent evaluators. In addition, the Board
adopted the specific evaluation programme for 2002, which included the
completion of 8 evaluations launched in 2001 and the launch of 12 new
evaluations, 6 of them relating to countries/regions and 6 to sectors such
as transport, gender, population etc. The full programme and 2002-2006
strategy are available on the website of EuropeAid.
EuropeAid Co-operation Office operates under a board of Directors composed of the five Relex Commissioners . The Board meets at least once every quarter. At its last meeting in 2001 (29 November), it approved the Work Plan 2002 of the EuropeAid Co-operation Office, as well as the Evaluation Strategy for 2002-2006 and the Evaluation Programme for 2002.
All managerial posts in EuropeAid Co-operation Office have been filled, as
have most other vacancies following a large-scale recruitment exercise in
February 2001. During 2001, a total of 280 officials were recruited. A
training package centred on programme management has been developed to
improve the skills of current staff.
The Commission took on responsibility for those tasks previously carried out
by the 49 Technical Assistance Officers (TAOs), whose contracts were
terminated in 2001 or were not renewed. This required the recruitment of
260 additional auxiliary staff in 2001 to work in Headquarters.
Furthermore, 70 individual experts have to be recruited to work in
Delegations, of which 39 will join the Delegations before end January 2002.
The others should be placed in Delegations by March 2002 at the latest.
At project level, the Evaluation Unit has developed a system designed to
monitor efficiency, effectiveness, impact, relevance and sustainability.
For each project, a two-page analytical report will be entered in a
database. After a test period in 2001, the system is expected to be
extended to all regions by 2003.
The Commission has, moreover, started a feasibility study on performance
indicators designed to measure the global impact of EC aid. The development
of these indicators does, however, raise certain methodological problems,
including:
¬ Establishing a causal link for given objectives between actions and
results;
¬ Isolating the impact of the EC's actions from other donors and other
factors (such as the socio-political and geographical context);
¬ Gathering reliable data that is agreed by the different stakeholders (local administration, recipients, other donors, etc.)
d) Orientation debate
The reform process has been accompanied by the search for an improved match
between political priorities and budgetary allocations. Discussions on the
2001 budget have highlighted the importance of establishing coherent
priorities in regards to external assistance. At the informal Evian General
Affairs Council, 2-3 September 2000, and the General Affairs Council (GAC)
meeting on 9 October 2000, Foreign Ministers underlined that the coherence
of the EU's external actions should be reinforced. They also stressed that
the objectives of EC actions should be translated into concrete commitments,
and that the synergy between EC actions and those of Member States should be
improved in order to make the EU's external actions more effective.
As it did last year, the Commission has also provided for the 2002
orientation debate a country-by-country synthesis of data on outstanding
commitments at the start of the year, new commitments made during 2001,
level of payments made and the resulting outstanding commitments at the end
of the year.
2. Further reunification of the project cycle and creation of the EuropeAid
Co-operation Office
Since 1st January 2001, the geographic Directorates-General (DG External
Relations and DG Development) are in charge of programming and strategy
whilst EuropeAid Co-operation Office is responsible for the remainder of the
project cycle (from identification of projects to ex-post evaluation). This
reorganisation has led to a corresponding transfer of staff and
responsibilities. An Interservice Agreement was signed in June 2001, which
clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the three Directorates General
most closely involved in the management of external assistance.
The profiles of the official and contractual staff recruited cover the whole range of expertise needed by headquarters and delegations to implement external aid in accordance with the objectives of quality and speedy delivery set by the Reform (development economists, sectoral experts, finance and contract professionals, support staff, etc.).
EuropeAid Co-operation Office has developed a series of indicators aimed at measuring progress in implementing the principal elements of the reform programme: improved execution of the budget (for example, 70% of invoices paid within 60 days), reduction in old and dormant commitments, rationalisation of budget lines, mainstreaming of tasks previously carried out by the TAOs, deconcentration, visibility and transparency. These indicators are used to compile a regular progress report on the management of EuropeAid Co-operation Office, which is presented to the Board.
EuropeAid is also working on improving its information systems in order that
they serve as a more effective management tool and allow a classification of
its external assistance programmes according to the system established by
the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC). (DAC classification
has already been used for the tables in the Annex of the 2000 working
document on the EC's external assistance activities.) A single harmonised
information system for programmes and projects (CRIS ) should be in place
by mid 2002. Classification by sector will begin with 2002 commitments, and
be available early 2003.
Finally, the secretariat activities for all Member State Management
Committees (for which EuropeAid Co-operation Office is responsible) have
been regrouped within one unit in order to rationalise the process of
preparing for meetings.0
3. Deconcentration of project management to Commission delegations
The deconcentration of the management of external aid towards the
Delegations of the Commission is a key element of this reform. The
timetable that the Commission has set itself for the implementation of
deconcentration is extremely tight, since the objective is to extend
deconcentration to all 78 Delegations in 3 successive waves before the end
of 2003.
Despite the complexity of this process which had to start at the time when
the other elements of the reform were also being put in place both inside
the Relex services and at the broader Commission level, all horizontal and
conceptual issues linked to the deconcentration of the geographic programmes
have been resolved.
At the time of drafting this report, deconcentration has started in most of
the 21 Delegations selected for the first phase: 10 Delegations are already
operating in a deconcentrated way, 7 more are in the starting blocks and
will start by mid-February, while the remaining 4 Delegations are delayed by
some aspects of unresolved logistical problems (secure computer connection,
and/or sufficient office space, or appropriate staff).
Preparation for the second wave (26 Delegations) is already well advanced,
so that it is reasonable to expect the first second-wave Delegations to
start operating in a deconcentrated way early in the second semester of
2002. The Commission has recently adopted a communication on the
medium-term outlook for financing the deconcentration programme. The
additional administrative costs are to be partially met by operational
credits (BA lines) for third countries covered by the Budget and by the EDF
for ACP countries. This adds to the urgency of an early ratification of the
Cotonou Agreement by all Member States
4. Improving financial management and performance
The 16 May 2000 Communication envisaged a specific initiative to screen all
commitments made prior to 1995 and all dormant commitments dating from
1995/96/97. By 1 December 2001, the level of budgetary commitments made
prior to 1995 had been reduced by 59% compared to 23 November 1999 (when a
first inventory of old commitments was made), a reduction of some EUR644
million. Moreover, by 15 November 2001 the level of dormant commitments
(including those from 1998) had been reduced to EUR918 million (compared to
EUR1314 million on 31 December 1999 and EUR1350 million on 31 December
2000). EDF commitments made prior to 1995 had also been reduced from EUR901
million in 1999 to EUR533 million by mid-November 2001.
In order to reduce the time lag between commitments and payments and
rationalise the execution of the budget, one of the main actions undertaken
by EuropeAid Co-operation Office has been to try to spread its operations
more evenly across the financial year. Important progress has been reached
in 2001 in this field. About 50% of the available credits have been
committed in the last quarter of the year which represents a substantial
improvement compared to last year's result when around 70% of the credits
were committed in the last 3 months of the year. Overall results of 2001
budget implementation are very satisfactory. Since the beginning of the
year, EUR3617 million have been committed (compared with EUR3584 million in
2000) and EUR3104 million paid (an increase of EUR391 million compared with
2000).
With regards to the EDF, the results are in line with the latest forecasts,
the level of commitments amounting to EUR1686 million and of payments to
EUR2033 million. These figures are still provisional and were updated on 22
January 2002, the closing date for 2001 EDF financial year being 31 January
2002.
For the first time, the stock of opened commitments has been stabilised in
absolute terms, from EUR20.7 billion in 2000 to EUR20.1 billion in 2001.
Expressed in years of payment appropriations, this stock has been reduced
from 4.81 in 1999 to 3.95 in 2001 (from 4.54 to 3.59 on the Community budget
- from 5.34 to 4.56 on the European Development Fund).
In addition to these measures, EuropeAid Co-operation Office has speeded up
the implementation of the new simplified and harmonised contracting
procedures (reduced in number from 46 to 8) through the production of a
practical guide. Standard documents have also been created, and should now
be applied to all Community programmes. These measures have considerably
reduced the time needed to complete the tendering process. Important
progress has been made in increasing transparency, and the internet pages
which contain the standard documents and information on tenders are the most
heavily consulted of the entire Europa server (800,000 page requests per
month). A customer survey on these pages was launched before the end of
2001.
The 16 May Communication also foresaw a harmonisation of budget lines, and
these have now been reduced from 64 (in 2000) to 55 (in 2001). This effort
has been pursued in 2002, when the number of lines to be managed by the
Office will be further reduced to 53. This harmonisation could have been
more substantial if the European Parliament had accepted all Commission
proposals contained in the PDB which proposed only 48 budget lines.
Finally, the Commission has proposed a revision of the Financial Regulation including some important provisions for the delivery of external assistance. One such proposal is that contracts implementing financing proposals should be signed with the beneficiaries within three years of the original budgetary commitment being made. There are also moves to facilitate the EC's participation in multilateral funds under the aegis of international organisations by simplifying conditions for co-financing.
5. Immediate results on the ground
Although it is too early to measure the improvements brought about by the
reform in all domains, especially in terms of the quality of aid programmes,
results have been recorded on the ground.
Afghanistan: starting a recovery programme
Following the events of the 11th September, a Plan of Action was adopted by
a special European Council on 21 September. The Heads of States and
Governments declared on October 20 that the EU would join the international
community in a "far reaching and ambitious programme of political and
humanitarian aid for the reconstruction of Afghanistan". The General Affairs
Council on the 19 November 2001 reiterated the importance that the EU's
political approach is reflected in EU actions on the ground including in the
provision of reconstrucion aid and humanitarian assistance.
The Commission immediately took up the challenge of preparing a
reconstruction programme for Afghanistan. Based on the results of an
identification mission in the field and intensive co-ordination with Member
States and other donors, the Commission draw up a financing proposal for EUR
57.5 million.
The overall objective of this Programme is to support the stabilisation of
the country by contributing to basic governance and to meet basic needs. The
programme has been formulated as a package including components that respond
to the following criteria:
· Complement activities already undertaken or planned under ECHO, Aid to
Uprooted people, Rapid Reaction Mechanism (RRM), Anti-Personnel Landmines
and Food Aid/Food Security;
· Build on experience gained by the Commission over the last decade in
assisting the people of Afghanistan;
· Provide a kick start to the recovery process and contribute to national
stability (peace dividend), in accordance with the findings of the common
needs assessment;
· Quick impact on livelihoods of men and women, local economies and the
re-establishment of public administration structures.
This package was ready for presentation to the Member States (ALA Committee)
in January 2002 with start-up foreseen by March 2002. The implementation of
the Programme will be under the responsability of the Commission Office
which is now set up in Kabul.
Support to Pakistan
The 11 September terrorist attacks called for a speedy response from the EU
with the aim to make a significant and visible engagement with Pakistan.
A number of measures were taken as part of a concerted Community response to
the crisis:
¬ The signature of the 3 Generation Co-operation Agreement on 24
November 2001 with President Musharraf took place during a visit to
Islamabad by Prime Minister Verhofstadt and President Prodi.
¬ A comprehensive trade package worth a potential EUR1 billion in trade
benefits.
¬ On the development side, details of a quick-disbursing EUR50 million
programme of budgetary support for Pakistan's financial sector reforms are
being finalised and should be operational by March 2002 and disbursed over
an 18-month period. Outstanding disbursements of EUR31 million under the
Social Action Programme have been accelerated, the first of two outstanding
parts was released on 31 December. A new EUR23 million programme in the
livestock/veterinary services sector was launched. These 3 initiatives
combined make up a EUR100 million special assistance package.
FYROM: assisting in the implementation of the Framework Agreement for peace.
Following the political and military crisis which erupted in early 2001, the conflicting parties signed a Framework Agreement for peace on 13 August 2001. The EC immediately allocated EUR 13.7 million from the CARDS programme (in addition to the EUR 42.5 million of the annual CARDS allocation) to support implementation of this Agreement, focusing on:
· Repairing/reconstructing local infrastructure and housing: restoring the
electricity supply to more than 100.000 people by repairing the electricity
distribution transmission and distribution systems, local infrastructure and
buildings, and reconstruction of houses for some 3.500 people in the former
conflict areas;
· Providing financial assistance to approximately 6.500 families hosting
internally displaced people and refugees;
· Fulfilling the objectives of the Framework Agreement concerning the
participation of minorities in the national police forces and the overall
reform of the police, including training on policing methods and practices;
· Enhancing the level of security for returning population.
These activities build on measures undertaken by the Rapid Reaction
Mechanism (EUR 12.8 million), and are in addition to humanitarian assistance
(ECHO) and macro-financial assistance (EUR 30 million - ECFIN), also devoted
to alleviating the consequences of the crisis.
Ukraine: replacing Chernobyl
Following the closure of the Chernobyl plant in December 2000, the EC
immediately allocated EUR25 million to fund the generation of electricity in
Ukraine. During the first quarter of 2001, the Commission financed the
delivery of 374 million m³ of natural gas to two Ukrainian power plants.
With this gas, 28% of Chernobyl's average yearly electricity output could be
generated. Delivery of the gas was supervised by both EU and Ukrainian
government representatives, backed by independent monitoring to ensure full
transparency and accountability.
The proceeds from selling this electricity were used to support measures
aimed the restructuring of the Ukrainian energy sector with a view to its
eventual privatisation. These resources (about EUR20 million) also
contributed to a reduction in the Ukrainian authorities' outstanding debts
to electrical distribution companies on behalf of public institutions
(hospitals, schools, orphanages and prisons) and the most vulnerable
sections of society (retired people, the disabled, and low income families).
In order to meet electricity demand during the winter period 2001/2002, the
EC approved in July 2001 a second tranche of EUR20 million for the purchase
and delivery of natural gas in similar conditions to that of the previous
tranche. Throughout December 2001, over 294 million m³ of natural gas were
delivered to the selected power plants, which enabled to produce 1,013
million KWh. Together with tranche I, this has brought the electricity
produced during 2001 at the Programme's expense to 49 percent of Chornobyl's
average yearly production.
New approach to universal education in Uganda
A new method of delivering education assistance is being tried out in Uganda
where donor funds are being allocated directly to the Ugandan Government's
budget in the form of a Sector Wide Approach or SWAP. The main features of
the SWAP in Uganda are:
· a well-formulated strategic framework for the whole education sector, with
full discussion and involvement of all stakeholders;
· disbursement via official and accountable Ugandan government procedures -
there is therefore proper budgetary control of the combined resources;
· direct management without the need for project management units; the SWAP
is closely linked to national and local government reforms, and there are
promises of future decentralisation to local level;
· a system that can evolve to meet changing circumstances due to monitoring
and inbuilt flexibility.
The European Commission has agreed to provide EUR31 million of specific
budgetary support in Uganda. Although definite progress has been made, the
Ugandan government and its external funding agency partners are conscious
that a lot more must be done if the country's education access targets are
to be met. Net enrolment should approach 100% by 2003, and at the same
time, the pupil-teacher ratio should reduce to 50:1. The consensus is that
the process is working reasonably well.
February 2002
Kenmerk
Blad /2
A progress report on the implementation of the reform was sent to the
members of the November 2001 Development Council, for their information.
The present document - mainly an updated version of the November report -
will be examined by the General Affairs Council on 18 February 2002
SEC(2000)814 of 16 May 2000 - Communication from the 'Relex'
Commissioners:
Mr Patten (External Relations), Mr Nielson (Development), Mr Verheugen
(Enlargement), Mr Lamy (Trade) and Mr Solbes Mira (Economic & Monetary
Affairs)
SEC(2000)814, SEC(2000)1049 of 15 June 2000, and Conclusions of 10
November 2000 Development Council
Consultation of Civil Society is an obligation under article 2 of the
Cotonou Agreement.
General Affairs Council, 22-23 January 2001
Mr Patten (Chairman), Mr Nielson (Chief Executive Officer), Mr
Verheugen, Mr Lamy and Mr Solbes Mira
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Common Relex Information Service
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