Consultation on Proposed EU Platform for External Cooperation and Development

Policy field

Financial Instruments, Blending (of grants with other financial resources), Public finance, International Cooperation, Development

Target groups

Questions have been divided into two groups primarily aimed at Civil Society Organisations and Private Sector Organisations or Foundations respectively.

Period of consultation

From 29.03.2012 to 27.04.2012

Objective of the consultation

The Council and the European Parliament have requested the European Commission to study the possible establishment of a new "EU Platform for External Cooperation and Development". This Platform would look at how grant funds could be best used to in combination with loans and other forms of funding ("blending") from public and private organisations in order to support investments in line with EU external action and development objectives.

The idea of the Platform would be to improve the quality and efficiency of EU external cooperation blending mechanisms and financial instruments and improve the cooperation and coordination between the EU, Financial Institutions and other stakeholders in this field. The Platform should deal with all regions of the world where the EU is engaged in external cooperation and development. The tasks of the Platform could include providing guidance to existing blending mechanisms and financial instruments, to streamline agreements, and promote cooperation and coordination between concerned parties. Second there may be tasks linked to the development of new financial instruments (e.g. guarantees, first loss/subordinated participations). Third there could be tasks linked to assessment and cross-monitoring of blending activities.

The Commission has created Group of Experts (GoE) made up of EU Member States, the European External Action Service, the European Investment Bank, and the European Parliament (Observer) which is in the process of assessing different options and developing proposals on the conditions under which such a Platform could most usefully be established. This means clarification and agreement on the benefits, objectives, tasks and mechanics of the Platform.

The purpose of this consultation is therefore to allow potential stakeholders to give their views on the possible establishment of the EU Platform for External Cooperation and Development. Following the conclusions of the GoE, a Commission proposal to establish this Platform could be prepared in 2012, taking into account contributions made.