Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – Improving EU support to developing countries in mobilising Financing for Development: Recommendations based on the 2012 EU Accountability Report on Financing for Development

The EU has constantly been the driving force in mobilising international support for development: it is the largest aid donor and the leader in aid effectiveness, the largest and most open market for developing countries and is at the forefront promoting the three dimensions of sustainable development.

This standing has been achieved through a number of specific EU commitments to support developing countries in their efforts. Many of these contribute to the overall goal of helping developing countries to mobilise all sources of financing for development for achieving their development goals.

Donors have an important role in development and Official Development Assistance (ODA) matters. Firstly, donors can take action that supports or creates leverage for other development finance. Secondly, ODA is more important to the poorest countries, who have limited access to other sources. These two considerations also underpin the EU Agenda for Change.

This Communication builds on previous progress as well as the new principles set out in the Agenda for Change, and proposes improvements in EU support for mobilising development finance. These proposals are based on data presented in the Staff Working Document accompanying this Communication and the previous Reports published since 2003.

EUR-Lex: COM(2012)366: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:366:FIN

European Commission: SWD(2012)199: Accountability Report 2012 on Financing for Development - Review of progress of the EU and its Member States http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SWD:2012:0199:FIN:EN:PDF

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