Feasibility study on options for strengthening the future European financial architecture for development

The European financial architecture for development plays an increasingly important role in support of the external policy objectives of the European Union (EU), by complementing traditional development cooperation tools and leveraging substantial resources for external investments. Nevertheless, there have been calls for a reform or rationalisation of the existing institutional and operational framework to ensure that it is fully commensurate to the current investment challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the EU’s Neighbourhood and elsewhere in the world, and that it delivers impact efficiently and effectively. These challenges were brought to the forefront by the Covid-19 crisis, the sanitary and socio-economic impacts of which significantly affected vulnerable countries. Reforming the European financial architecture for development was more needed than ever to ensure the effectiveness and visibility of European external action, and to provide a coordinated and effective EU response to the medium to long term impact of the crisis in partner countries. To this end, the Council of the EU established, with Decision (EU) 2019/597, a High-Level Group of Wise Persons. The Group was tasked with producing an independent report assessing the challenges and opportunities for improving and rationalising the European financial architecture for development and proposing possible scenarios for its evolution. The report was published in October 2019 The general purpose of this independent study was to provide a more detailed legal, governance, financial and operational assessment of the feasibility of two of the options put forward by the High-Level Group of Wise Persons and to assess also the option of possible enhancements in the current institutional set-up. As such, the study was aimed at informing future policy choices on the European financial architecture for development by comparing these options and allowing for a clear understanding of the added value of each of them in terms of efficiency, cost, speed of implementation, visibility, development impact and alignment with EU policy objectives as well as of the preconditions for their success.


Project Details
Country WORLDWIDE
Start date 2020.08.24
End date 2021.04.14
Client DEVCO/INTPA
Sector FRAMEWORK CONTRACTS
Sub-sector EU Aid Modalities
Ref. ADE A596-019