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International Partnerships

Public Consultation on the External Financing Instruments of the European Union - [CLOSED]

Target group(s)

All stakeholders in beneficiary and EU countries are welcome to participate in this consultation: public national and local authorities, non-governmental organisations, academics, development agencies and bodies, think tanks, consultancies, private sector organisations, development banks and citizens.

Period of consultation

7 February 2017 to 3 May 2017

Objective of the consultation

The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the European Union lays down the maximum annual amounts which the EU may spend in different political fields over a certain period. The current MFF covers the period 2014 to 2020.

Within the MFF, Heading 4 – Global Europe, covers all external action of the EU and is mainly composed of the External Financing Instruments (EFI) which provide support to third countries and people abroad. The EFIs are:

  • the Development Cooperation Instrument
  • the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights
  • the European Neighbourhood Instrument
  • the Greenland Decision
  • the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace
  • the Instrument for Nuclear Safety Co-operation
  • the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance
  • the Overseas Countries and Territories Decision
    *The evaluation of the Overseas Countries and Territories Decision is included in the European Development Fund report.
  • the Partnership Instrument for cooperation with third countries and
  • the Common Implementing Regulation which lays down the rules applied to most of the EFIs.
    *The CIR lays down rules and conditions for the provision of financial assistance to actions for the following EFIs: the Development Cooperation Instrument, the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, the European Neighbourhood Instrument, the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace, the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance and the Partnership Instrument for co-operation with third countries (PI). The Instrument for Nuclear Safety and Co-operation and the Greenland Decision are not mentioned in Art. 1 of the CIR Regulation but contain references to the CIR.

The 11th European Development Fund is also an EFI although not funded by the EU budget. It is as such not part of the MFF but it covers the same period and is included in this consultation.

In line with Article 17 of the Common Implementing Regulation (CIR), a mid-term review of the instruments covered by the CIR was presented to the European Parliament and the Council at the end of 2017. To facilitate this task, independent evaluations were commissioned for each instrument. The mid-term review report and the independent evaluation reports are available hereunder.

The objective of this consultation is twofold:

  • to gather feedback from the broadest possible range of stakeholders, including those in beneficiary countries and in the EU Member States, on the emerging conclusions from the evaluations.
  • to gather preliminary ideas on the future external financing instruments after the current ones have expired by 31 December 2020.

The opinions expressed in these draft reports represent the authors' points of view, which are not necessarily shared by the European Commission nor by the authorities of the countries involved.

Results of the consultation

All contributions received in response to the online consultation were reviewed when finalising the evaluations. For the participants who gave their permission, the contributions have been published (grouped by instrument).

Commission mid-term review report and staff working documents:

Following on from the independent evaluations, the Commission produced a mid-term review report and associated staff working documents (one per instrument). The mid-term review report covers all ten external financing instruments and is based on the findings from the staff working documents, which in turn draw from the independent evaluations.

Relevant Regulations:

8 MARCH 2022
Public Consultation on the External Financing Instruments of the European Union - Results and reference documents
English
(78.44 MB - ZIP)
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