EU ACP > Forum > Summaries > Monthly Summary 4 - (6 Sept.

Summaries of the debates on the forum

Monthly Summary 4 - (6 Sept. - 3 Oct.)

FOLLOWING IS A MACHINE TRANSLATION OF THE ORIGINAL IN FRENCH. IT HAS BEEN EDITED FOR MISTRANSLATION ONLY. THE ORIGINAL IN FRENCH IS AVAILABLE ON THIS WEB SITE AT: <http://www.ue-acp.org/fr/forum/syntheses/syntm4.html>

KEY WORDS: PROGRESS OF THE DEBATE

* * Title: Monthly Summary 4 - (6 Sept. - 3 Oct.) * *
by: Anne SIMON <anne.simon@skynet.be>
<http://www.ue-acp.org/en/forum/presentations/simon.html>
°°° Summary:
Thème 3.10 - Making of Budgetary Aid a Collective Process of Evolution of Governance. Participants insist on the complexity of this instrument of aid, which must change deeply to become really collective as well as a set of continued support measures making possible internalization and control. Financial backers should also modify their behavior and their ways of doing things.
Thème 3.11 - Backing the Actors and the Processes by Combining the Lome Convention and the European Union's Own Budget. It would be necessary to consider a way to join the considerations on the evolution of these two types of aid. The principle of co-management must change toward the principle "public places of co-management" while increased efforts of communication and information must be made to encourage this evolution. Given the size of changes of mentalities and practices to achieve, it is proposed that important financial means (on the EDF) and human means be affected to certain test countries or regions.
Thème 3.12 - Sparking off, with Officer Involvement, a Dynamics of Change within the Commission. Efforts of officer innovation should be gotten the best out of to create synergism in the ACP countries and to disseminate the advances.
Thème 4 - The Need for a Joint Effort of the European Parliament and the European Commission. To the difference of other multilateral organizations, the political system of the "more experienced" European union should be gotten the best out of to develop a mutual understanding between EU and ACP societies.
Life of the forum. Efforts to make to go beyond the linguistic barriers. °°°

3.10 - Making of Budgetary Aid a Collective Process of Evolution of Governance
Budgetary aid makes possible to insert the aid in the policy established by the state. It is an instrument that seems for the Commission to simplify the financial commitments and the management of the aid. However participants agree that on the contrary, the implementation of this type of aid, to make possible the development and to contribute to the evolution of the governance, is fact in complex and must take in account the system of actors and relations among them. The decentralized offices of cooperation agencies (EU delegations) will play an essential role there. This is not a miracle solution and, if it is applied without discernment, it could encourage diversions of funds and create risks of social tension.
So the budgetary aid is a process that must include the whole of components of the society. It must rely on structuring and long-term actions of training and education at the levels of all components of the state, the civil society and the private sector. Too often, the present programs of "backing good governance" were too specific and used by governments as artifices of good will without real foundations. The question of transparency and information--the structural dialogue on the political choices made, the development of the national budget and its execution--is also primordial to mobilize societies and to reinforce their capacities of control and arbitration. The creation of an EU-ACP process of control and sanction in case of diversion of funds could be considered.
Financial backers must be ready to accept ACP society choices and to develop an ex-post control. In order to avoid distortions, their approaches must be harmonized. It would therefore be necessary to open these considerations to the results of other experience as the one proposed for dialogue (Comprehensive Development Framework - World Bank).
3.11 - Backing the Actors and the Processes by Combining the Lome Convention and the European Union's Own Budget
The future of the Lomé Convention cannot be considered without considering its articulation with the evolution of the aid financed by the Community budget. The question of the budgeting of the EDF is also considered by a participant, who rather sees this as a weakening of the EU-ACP partnership.
The application of the system of co-management of the aid financed by the EDF and the central function of the National Authorizing Officer is the object of numerous criticisms. But participants insist on the government's central role in the organization and the development of countries. They propose therefore that the present co-management is adapted and specified further by taking account of relations of the different components of the society with their states. There is a proposal for the creation of "public places of co-management", for example, taking into account the nature, the function and the level of the different categories of actors. An increased effort of communication and information must contribute to this evolution. A part of the financing of the EDF should have the objective of "developing an active citizenship" by recognizing and by supporting initiatives of the different components of the society.
The Community budget should be adapted, or even increased, in this direction. It more specifically has to support actions of training, education, creation and backing of actor networks. Otherwise, one contributor questions the priority granted to the emergency and humanitarian aid to the detriment of more structural aid in sectors such as the protection of the environment and health.
This more flexible cooperation and adapted to societies and their realities requires that the EU Delegations be at the heart of the mechanism and that they be endowed with capacities and an autonomy in adequacy with the complexity of their function.
It is not enough to reorganize and to create new lines of financing (on the EDF or the budget). The effort of renovation of the partnership through experimentation, learning and the progressive changes of mentality are an objective that doesn't have possibilities to succeed unless means and a test place are made available. A participant proposes to affect a part of the EDF to this mission in test countries or regions.
3.12 - Sparking off, with Officer Involvement, a Dynamics of Change within the Commission
A certain incomprehension and suspicion seems to exist on the part of ACP actors with respect to institutions of cooperation. The European Commission is known badly and is perceived as operating in closed circuit. Efforts of innovation and the professionalism of officers should be gotten the best out of and their skills summoned to diffuse them. They should be able to be more involved and present in negotiations and the execution of development programs.
4. The Need for a Joint Effort of the European Parliament and the European Commission
The political system of the Union, "more experienced" than the one of the ACP countries, where a control by the civil society is made possible by way of the European Parliament, presents an advantage over the one of other multilateral organizations. For more mutual understanding between EU and ACP societies in cooperation, the European Parliament should associate its efforts to those of the European Commission.
5. Life of the forum
A small survey led by the coordination committee shows that the English-speaking persons on this forum read the messages with interest. We expect for a lot from the dialogue between English-speaking and French-speaking communities; advice in forms of writing is given to encourage this exchange.

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