The European Council this week released a report about EU spending on development, which says that while member states continue to fall short of their 0.7% Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment, the EU remains collectively the biggest global donor in the world. The report, Council Conclusions on Annual Report 2014 to the European Council on EU Development Aid Targets, focuses on the quantity of aid spent – not the quality or effectiveness of that aid. Other key points include:

• In 2013, the EU collective ODA increased to €56.5 billion from €55.3 billion in 2012. EU collective ODA remained at 0.43% of EU gross national income (GNI).
• There is mixed performance of Member States – 16 Member States increased their aid by a total of €4.1 billion, while 12 Member States decreased their aid by a total of €1.2 billion. Four Member States met or exceeded the 0.7% ODA/GNI target.
• Without substantial additional efforts by most Member States to fulfil their individual commitments, the EU collective ODA would increase only to 0.45% of GNI by 2015. To reach the collective EU target of 0.7% of GNI by 2015, the EU and its Member States would need to mobilise an additional amount of approximately €41.3 billion.

Read CONCORD AidWatch’s response to see what other NGOs think about the report.