European Cooperation

AFD has been building numerous partnerships at the international level for several years now. The European Commission is one of our most important partners and AFD has a Representation Office to European Institutions in Brussels, which works with a division dedicated to European cooperation at AFD’s headquarters.

In recent years, major impetus has been given to scaling up our relations with the European Commission, along with other bilateral European agencies and the European Investment Bank (EIB), while ensuring that AFD is fully part of the French mechanism for European relations on ODA.

The objectives of our European strategy are based on two cornerstones:

To establish sustainable relations for cooperation and operational partnerships between AFD and European institutions (Commission, Parliament, EIB);
To contribute to building an operational network of actors of European aid with the Commission and other bilateral donors.

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News

5th Workshop of the Thematic Group "Implementation of the European Division of Labour" in Brussels

13/12/2011

Brussels. AFD Brussels Office invited agency practitioners to a meeting with representatives from DEVCO who informed about and discussed with participants the following topics: 1) the new Directorate General DEVCO 2) Division of Labour implementation and Delegated Cooperation: Where do we stand? 3) First exchange of views on the concept of joint programming.

Link to the PN website

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08/12/11: Symposium "France, Europe and development assistance from the Rome Treaties to today"

08/12/2011

AFD is celebrating its 70^th anniversary this year and is organizing a symposium with the Institute of Public Management and Economic Development (IGPDE) on the history of European aid with the aim of identifying how it has developed, often as a result of national policies.

See the detailed program (in French)

The AFD (Agence Française de Développement), set up in London on 2^nd December 1941 by General De Gaulle, celebrates its 70th anniversary. On this occasion, it organises with the Institut de la gestion publique et du développement économique (IGPDE) a symposium on “France, Europe and Development Aid, from the Treaties of Rome to date”.

The conference will trace the main steps of the European Development Aid, including its articulation with the French Cooperation Policy. A forward-looking round table will conclude it.

PIERRE MENDÈS-FRANCE CONFERENCE CENTER
139, rue de Bercy – 75012 Paris

Thursday, 8th Decembre 2011

PROGRAMME

9 am	Opening and scientific introduction
9.30 am	Beginnings of the European development aid (1957-1975)
11.15 am	Enlargement and new paradigms of aid (1975-1995)
1 pm	Buffet
2.30 pm	Questioning of the European Development Policy (1995-2010)
4.45 pm	Towards new horizons
6.15 pm	Closure by the French Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry (expected)

► To register (acess subject to the number of available seats): click here

logo IGPDE

Partner website:
http://www.institut.minefi.gouv.fr/

Download the ECDPM 15 Report (European Centre for Development Policy Management) - The European Union Development Policy

See the detailed program (PDF)

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26/10/2011

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Public Hearing at the European Parliament : Food Security in Developping Countries

04/10/2011

4 October (Brussels): With famine hitting the horn of Africa, DEVE holds a full-day hearing on food security challenges in developing countries. MEPs, Commissioners Piebalgs and Cioloş, the UN and civil society from north and south look at EU policies, sustainable farming, commodity speculation, land grab and other key food-related issues.

Programme of the Public Hearing

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EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund: 2010 Annual Report shows AFD’s strong involvement

09/08/2011

The EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund (ITF) has been operational since June 2007. Its purpose is to develop EU investments in regional infrastructure in Africa in partnership with other initiatives, stakeholders and instruments, but always with the aim of ensuring that African partners take ownership.

This Fund finances infrastructure projects that have regional structural impacts in the water, power, transport and ICT sectors. The instrument is part of a wider series of initiatives, the EU-Africa Partnership on Infrastructure.

It is the first European instrument to allow bilateral agencies to work closely with the European Commission (EC). The Fund gathers 12 Member States (MS) alongside the EC, their development agencies and the European Investment Bank (EIB). Its grant endowment stands at EUR392.7m, with EUR290.2m already paid-in (EUR10m by France via AFD).

The Fund’s support is based on a combination of non-repayable aid allocated by the Commission and EU Member States and lending and technical assistance operations conducted by the EIB and EU Development Finance Institutions, as well as by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

ITF’s governance is simple and efficient (it has been reproduced in subsequently created facilities) and is based on a Project Financiers Group, a decision-making body (Executive Committee) and a political orientation body. The EC and MS maintain authority for decision-making and entrust responsibility for project quality to professionals from the Project Financiers Group, which alone makes technical decisions in order to put forward suitable projects. A secretariat housed at the EIB ensures that there are smooth information flows between the three entities.

In 2007 and 2008, the Committee allocated EUR64.6m of grants for 7 projects. The start-up of the Fund was slowed down by the innovative notion of “regional impact projects”. In 2009, its operations gathered pace when it opened up to national projects “with regional impacts”. In 2010, 14 projects (EUR110.6m of grants) were approved (8 to finance technical assistance [TA], 5 for interest rate subsidies and one direct grant).

Discover the ITF Video "Improving Lives of People in Africa" (in French)

Between April 2007 and the end of 2010, 32 projects were approved (EUR208.86m of grants), allowing EUR5.6bn of investments. AFD has led 10 projects (31% of cases): 4 with interest rate subsidies, 6 for TA and has cofinanced 5 projects which have been led by EIB and KfW. It is involved in half of the projects and has benefited from EUR66m of grants (1/3 of allocations) for a commitment of EUR408m out of a total of EUR1.25bn mobilized by the Project Financiers Group.

Link to ITF 2010 Annual Report

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10 years of Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) activities presented in Brussels

21/06/2011

Brussels, 21 June. CEPF partners have marked the 10th anniversary of this fund, one of the largest devoted to biodiversity protection, by presenting the achievements of 10 years of activities. AFD is one of the six donors of CEPF, a US$150m fund, alongside the Global Environment Facility, World Bank, Japanese Government, Conservation International and the MacArthur Foundation.

CEPF has decided to focus its action on “biodiversity hotspots” – which shelter the bulk of the planet’s terrestrial biological diversity on only 15% of land areas – by reinforcing civil society’s action and capacity for ecosystem management. It finances local actions, which benefit rural dwellers thanks to the emergence of truly green economies. CEPF is one of the most effective funds and has proved to be an operational response to the Nagoya targets.

In 10 years of operation, CEPF has supported some 1,600 local civil society groups that the major donors find it difficult to reach. The fund has financed, monitored and evaluated natural environment conservation projects in 51 countries, covering 20 of the 34 global hotspots. The living conditions of over 80,000 rural families have been secured or improved. The conservation status of over 50,000 wild species has been sustainably improved. The beneficiaries have managed to raise an additional US$261 million of funds for hotspot conservation.

Princess de Hollande
Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands during her speech

The aim of the discussions between the CEPF team and the Commission was to invite the European Development Fund to replenish the CEPF by 2012. The Commission’s entry into the CEPF, along with other European bilateral donors, will increase the Fund’s capacity for action and will make it possible to begin to use political influence to support civil society and help build greener development models.

In the evening, CI, AFD and their partners also had the opportunity to present CEPF’s action during a celebration event gathering personalities (including Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands), NGOs (Birdlife, LPO, IUCN, WWF) and European staff.

Link to CEPF presentation film

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