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The European Development Fund (EDF) embodies the legal framework and main instrument for EU aid for development cooperation in the ACP countries. This formally began in 1957 when in it was agreed in the Treaty of Rome that provision for technical and financial assistance be provided to African countries which were either still colonies or has had long historical links with EU Member States. The EDF fund comes directly from EU Member States and managed by the EDF Committee composed of Finance or Development Ministers of EU member states. The EDF Committee has its own set of financial rules in the allocation and disbursement of the funds. Each EDF financial period runs for 5 years and since its inception, there has already been 9 EDFs disbursed. The current 10th EDF amounts to 22.68 billion euros. It is important to note that unlike the ACP countries, EU aid to the rest of the developing world including those in Asia, Latin America and European Neighborhood, comes from the Community budget which is managed by the European Commission. As such, the European Parliament has oversight of the budget as well as right of scrutiny on Country Strategy Papers which defines the amount, priorities and allocations of EU aid in each recipient country. The European Parliament has requested that the EDF form part of the Community budget since 1993 but has not come into fruition. Click here for related documents on the issue. Related Documents: - Council Regulation for the 9th EDF (en) , (fr)
- Internal Agreement (en) , (fr) - Council Regulation for the 10th EDF (en) , (fr)
- Internal Agreement (en) , (fr) |
