Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – The future approach to EU budget support to third countries

Budget support involves policy dialogue, financial transfers to the national treasury account of the partner country, performance assessment and capacity-building, based on partnership and mutual accountability. It should not be seen as an end in itself, but as a means of delivering better aid and achieving sustainable development objectives by fostering partner countries ownership of development policies and reforms, as well as by implementing the aid effectiveness agenda and commitments set out in the Monterrey Consensus (2002), the European Consensus on Development (2005), the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005), and the Accra Agenda for Action (2008).

Based on ten years of experience on budget support and calls of stakeholders to continue improving and refining the budget support mechanism, the Commission decided to launch a consultation in late 2010 on "The future of EU budget support to third countries".

In this Communication, the Commission sets out a new policy on budget support and puts forward policy proposals for an EU coordinated approach. It aims to adapt budget support policy to the changing political and policy environment, including the Treaty of Lisbon, and to make EU budget support a more effective instrument. Member States may also consider these as recommendations as regards to their bilateral budget support, in order to achieve a coordinated approach by the EU as a whole.

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)638: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:638:FIN

---