Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2013)509 - European Year of Development (2015) - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2013)509 - European Year of Development (2015). |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2013)509  |
| date | 10-07-2013 |
Development cooperation has changed in recent decades against a background of increasing global challenges and interdependence, differentiation among developing countries and new actors in development.
2015 will be a pivotal year for development: it is the last year for achieving the collectively agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the year in which major decisions will have to be taken on the framework that will replace them.
Four years after the adoption of the Communication on the Agenda for Change, 2015 will also be a good time to communicate the concrete results of the reform of development policy which that represented.
The EU is the biggest donor of official development aid (ODA) in the world, providing more than half of all aid given worldwide. Its strong commitment to supporting partner countries dates back to 1957, when the Treaties of Rome first established a European development policy.
The Lisbon Treaty has firmly anchored development policies, with their overall objective of poverty eradication, in the EU’s external action in support of its interest in a stable and prosperous world. Development cooperation is also part of the Europe 2020 Strategy.
Lastly, important EU policy initiatives such as Policy Coherence for Development and Aid Effectiveness have consistently contributed to improving the programming and implementation of EU development cooperation.
· Challenges
Despite this strong commitment to supporting partner countries, EU citizens often lack information on development cooperation, why it is needed and on the added value of development policies at EU level. The October 2012 Eurobarometer survey highlighted significant areas of ignorance, with 53 % of respondents indicating that they know nothing about where EU aid goes (44 % are unaware of where their country’s bilateral aid goes).
The survey also showed that personal commitment is decreasing slightly and that perceptions of development cooperation and the importance attached to it differ across the EU.
In a rapidly changing world, people need information as to how an outward-looking Europe can help to ensure global sustainability. It is important to raise European citizens’ awareness of our global interdependence. In general, EU citizens are keen to understand how they can make a difference and being informed is the first step towards taking action.
Development policies have undergone a paradigm shift in recent years. Moving away from the traditional donor-beneficiary relationship, the emphasis today is increasingly on an approach to global challenges of mutual interest which is based on parity with partner countries.
Nevertheless, major EU development policy objectives need public commitment. Given the strains of the global crisis, for instance, strong public opinion may help to achieve the target of channelling 0.7 % of GNP to development funding.
Furthermore, the importance attached to development cooperation varies from one Member State to the next. The EYD2015 is an opportunity to improve the level of information in all Member States. The approach will address the different national target groups. With this in mind, the involvement of Member States and the EU Representations will be particularly important.
The fact that the EU is a global player and vector for change is important to continued support for its development policy. The EU needs to be seen to be coordinating and cooperating with Member States and other donors. Citizens are largely unaware of the effectiveness and positive effects of aid and this needs to be presented in less technical terms.
· Opportunities
Organising the European Year of Development specifically in 2015 will require significant additional effort, but also represent an opportunity to mobilise Europe-wide momentum both among policy-makers and EU citizens at large. The EYD2015 can generate greater public awareness and put the EU’s international development role in the spotlight. It can also raise the level of knowledge in the population at large as to how development, sustainable development, climate change, food security, biodiversity, and other relevant issues are interrelated, and how this affects the poorest people on the planet and promote the concept of policy coherence. It can tie in with all the communication initiatives that Member States and other actors in development cooperation are no doubt planning for that year in particular.
As shown in the Eurobarometer, the evident need to improve communications on the EU’s development cooperation is matched by an overall receptiveness on the part of EU citizens to helping the poor in partner countries. Support for helping partner countries is consistently high (85 %). More than six out of ten Europeans think that aid to partner countries should be increased. However, communication strategies on EU development cooperation always need to be geared to national circumstances.
The EU has a broad and active network of non-governmental development cooperation organisations which liaise closely with EU institutions. The NGOs have a key role to play in addressing and involving EU citizens.
The private sector and international foundations are increasingly active in development cooperation and international opinion leaders are becoming important players as regards development aid. They are influential in creating synergies, including in terms of communicating on development cooperation to a wider audience.
The dense network of European Union Delegations all over the world makes it possible to gather information on the results of EU development cooperation and disseminate it in partner countries.
The EYD2015 will help to give leverage to the ongoing communication efforts on EU development cooperation. It will reinforce the visibility and results-based focus of that cooperation.
· Objectives and proposed activities
The aim of the EYD2015 is to inform EU citizens about EU development cooperation, highlighting what the European Union can already achieve as the biggest aid donor in the world and how it could do even more with the combined strength of its Member States and its institutions.
The EYD2015 seeks to stimulate the active interest of European citizens in development cooperation and foster a sense of responsibility and opportunity as regards their participation in policy formulation and implementation.
It will raise awareness of the role of EU development cooperation, which brings a wide range of benefits not only for recipients but also for EU citizens, in a changing and increasingly interdependent world.
The main messages to be conveyed during the year should flow from the recent Communications Increasing the impact of EU Development Policy: an Agenda for Change and A decent life for all, ending poverty and giving the world a sustainable future.
A broad approach, covering both EU development cooperation and humanitarian aid, will be taken to communicating about EU aid in during the EYD2015. Where possible, action for the EYD2015 will be designed and implemented with strategic partners. Existing fora will be used to promote the EYD2015, therefore, but innovative partnerships should also be sought.
All activities should be as close as possible to citizens in and outside the EU and be easily understood by them. Specific target groups, including young people, will be addressed in order to have a greater impact.
As far as possible, advantage will be taken of existing communication initiatives, e.g. European Development Days, the Development Education and Awareness Raising (DEAR) initiative, awards such as the Lorenzo Natali Prize or publications on EU development cooperation such as EuropeAid’s Annual Report.
Activities in other policy fields, e.g. external relations, trade, enlargement, employment and social policy, education and culture, health, agriculture, and research and innovation, already contribute directly or indirectly to promoting development. The Commission will draw on these activities to add to the impact of the EYD2015.
As in previous European Years, additional measures will include communication campaigns, conferences, events, initiatives, studies and surveys at European, national, regional and local level, to convey key messages, disseminate information on EU development cooperation and invite EU citizens to participate and actively contribute. The Commission may identify other activities to contribute to the objectives of the EYD2015.
Action under the EYD2015 needs to be tailored to the needs and circumstances of individual Member States. Lessons from previous European Years will be taken into account. Member States are invited to appoint a national EYD2015 coordinator. National coordinators will consult closely with a wide range of stakeholders and, where appropriate, act as the national agencies or contact points for the relevant EU activities.
EYD2015 action taken together with Member States will take into consideration each country’s existing communication strategies. Member States will thus be invited to communicate on EU development cooperation in the widest sense.
Contents
In May 2011, responding to an initial proposal by the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development (CONCORD), the European Economic and Social Committee proposed designating 2015 the European Year for Development.
In October 2012, the European Parliament called on the Commission to make 2015 the European Year for Development, expressing its hope that this would raise the profile of development cooperation.
The Commission services and the External Action Service have been informally consulted on the idea of the EYD2015.
The European Parliament and Member States have been informally contacted on the organisation of the EYD2015.
The EYD2015 is an item on the agenda for the regular meeting with Member States’ Directors-General responsible for development in June 2013.
Discussions on organisation have been held with the inter-institutional EYD2015 task force made up of representatives of CONCORD, the European Economic Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, Members of the European Parliament and Member States.
Plans for the EYD2015 have been shared with the Development Education Awareness Raising (DEAR) forum, which aims to strengthen NGOs’ awareness-raising capacities and educate and involve the European public in worldwide poverty eradication and social inclusion. The substance of the initiative is widely welcomed, and the growing number of requests for further information and active support indicate that there is strong demand for it.
Given the external relations dimension of the EYD2015, informal discussions have also taken place with international organisations.
· Legal basis
Article 209 TFEU provides the legal basis for the development and implementation by the EU of its development policy, as defined in Article 208.
Article 210 TFEU provides that, in order to promote the complementarity and efficiency of their action, the Union and the Member States should coordinate their development cooperation policies and consult each other on their aid programmes, including in international organisations and during international conferences. They may undertake joint action. Member States should contribute if necessary to the implementation of Union aid programmes. The Commission may take any useful initiative to promote the coordination.
The main purpose of the proposal for a decision on the EYD 2015 is to raise public awareness of the added value of a European dimension in cooperation in view of global interdependence and changing EU development policy.
As such, this objective falls within the ambit of both articles mentioned above.
· Subsidiarity principle
The primary responsibility for raising citizen’s awareness of development issues rests with Member States. Action at Union level complements and supplements national actions in this respect, as highlighted in the political declaration Communicating Europe in Partnership signed on 22 October 2008 by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. Since, due to the need for multilateral partnerships, transnational exchange of information and Union-wide awareness-raising and dissemination of good practices, the objectives of the European Year of Development cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, given the scale of the European Year of Development, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union.
· Proportionality principle
The action to be implemented in the proposed European Year does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve its objectives. The proposal therefore respects the principle of proportionality, as set out in Article 5 TEU.
The flexibility for annual or multiannual priority-setting based on the Commission’s budget lines and programmes provides sufficient financial margin for running the EYD2015 under the current preliminary planning (see Annex).