Statement from Andris Piebalgs on the 2012 Transparency Index
According to the last report from Publish What You Fund - a watchdog organisation - the European Commission is managing taxpayers' money dedicated to fight poverty in the world in full transparency. EuropeAid ranks as the fifth most transparent donor worldwide, sharing the third best transparency score.
We can be proud to be one of the biggest donors in the world, and one of the most transparent and efficient. EU aid is regularly under scrutiny of many organisations: we are sometimes challenged – which helps us to keep improving our impact and procedures - but majority of voices confirm that EU aid is reaching the people in need and is playing a substantial role in overcoming poverty.
This evaluation from an independent and respected organisation is also timely as discussions regarding the next EU budget, including aid, are on-going. I'm happy to read that our action to make EU aid increasingly transparent is bearing fruits and that the Commission is accountable to both EU citizens and our partner countries. Since I took office, I committed myself to make EuropeAid a frontrunner in aid transparency and to provide people with clear information about our policy, our activities on the ground and our results. This is crucial to secure a steadfast support from EU citizens to aid: they can be ensured that thanks to EU aid, millions of people in the poorest countries have access to food, education, health services but also energy and roads. Aid is not a luxury but a smart investment on our common future.
Striving for transparency to make aid more effective requires determination but it pays off. For me, the good review that the 2012 Transparency Index gives EuropeAid is both an encouragement and an incentive to continue in this direction."
Read the full report: http://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/index/2012-index
Note to the editors
In October 2011 the Commission started publishing information through" International Aid Transparency Initiative" (IATI), which offers a common, open, international standard that sets guidelines for publishing information about aid spending. People can now access our aid data, by country, available in one place, via the IATI registry.
In 2012, the Commission will implement the second phase of IATI, which will make data available in much more detail and also quicker. This is in line with the recommendations of today's Transparency Index report. In the coming months TR-AID (Transparent Aid) tool will be rolled out, which will provide a single access point to EU aid data and will present this data in an easily-accessible format, such as through pie charts and graphs.
The 2012 EU Donor Atlas - another useful tool to research where the EU and its Member States direct their funding- will be published soon.
In comparison to last's year report EuropeAid moved from 9th to 5th position in the ranking, proving that the on-going work on transparency and efficiency brings good results.
