Why are the European Commission, Parliament and Council of Ministers targets?

The European Commission is a major donor in its own right, with the combined figure for all Member States and the Commission together making the European Union the world’s biggest aid donor. Any move towards greater transparency of aid at European level would therefore mark a significant achievement for the aid transparency agenda. From a strategic perspective, European institutions constitute a key hub for influencing the behaviour of the 27 Members States – both directly, because of the legally binding nature of some agreements made at the EU level, as well as indirectly through the pressure the system as a whole can bring to bear on individual Member States. The rules regarding access to documents are currently being revised, and the debate around this – as well as the European Parliament elections in June 2009 – offer further opportunities to promote aid transparency.

What do we want?

The advocacy activities of Publish What You Fund will be pragmatic, reflecting the need to capitalise on emerging opportunities and to respond to the complex internal mechanisms of the European Institutions. We will work to improve the transparency of European aid from initial policy development and legislation through to implementation and delivery of funds.

How we will achieve it?

At the legislative level, the European Commission’s power to initiate legislation makes it a major advocacy target, a position reinforced by its responsibility for drafting the EU budget. The role of the European Parliament and Council of Ministers in adopting and amending the budget makes them the key players in the budgetary procedure from the moment the initial preliminary draft budget (PDB) is produced until its final adoption. To maximise the impact of our advocacy activities, both national governments and key Committees of the European Parliament will also become targets in terms of influencing the budget. Finally, both of these bodies will be key targets to make the Financial Regulation more efficient. Designed to ensure tighter control of development funds to ensure monies could be tracked more easily, there is a strong case for streamlining this Regulation, since reform could potentially make development aid much more effective.

Our first draft of the France asks is completed. For the full document, click here.