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(2004/C 88 E/0089)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2354/03

by Mary Honeyball (PSE) to the Commission

(16 July 2003)

Subject:   Local government in ACP countries

Can the Commission supply details of the support that has been provided to local government in ACP countries for local government institutional development/capacity building in the last 12 months in response to the recognition given to local government as a state actor under Article 6 of the Cotonou Agreement?

Have the Commission services, notably AIDCO, instigated any financial or other internal procedures to ensure that local government, as a state actor, is able to effectively access resources from the national and regional indicative programmes, and are there specific examples of local government having accessed such resources to date?

Does the Commission have any plans to meet with representatives of the ACP Local Government Platform, including the Commonwealth Local Government Forum?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(11 September 2003)

The Commission emphasises that it did not await the entry into force of the Cotonou Agreement to demonstrate its awareness that the local authorities are a partner for the development of the ACP countries and therefore to increase their capacities and to support them in their efforts to take part in the political, social and economic life of the country.

The Commission, under the 8th EDF, currently finances projects supporting decentralisation to localised groups, or decentralised cooperation with the local authorities and elected representatives, in several African countries: Benin, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Uganda, Senegal. Moreover, it also supports projects in this field in South Africa. These projects add up to an amount of EUR 151 million for the European Development Fund and EUR 102 million for South Africa. The latest project is the programme to support the creation of communes in Benin (Prodecom), for an amount of EUR 8,85 million.

In addition, several National Indicative Programmes for the 9th EDF provided for support for decentralisation and for local authorities: Benin, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Niger, Uganda, Sierra Leone. The projects already identified add up to EUR 93 million. Similarly, the Indicative Programme (2003-2006) for South Africa also provides for a strengthening of the capacities of the local authorities under local development projects.

In accordance with the procedures applicable to the European Development Funds, the financing of cooperation projects from the resources of the National or Regional Indicative Programmes is done only on the basis of a request of the Regional or National Authorising Officer. In addition, the Head of Delegation of the Commission in the ACP partner countries remains the principal interlocutor in the implementation of the partnership, including for the promotion and the facilitation of the dialogue between the various types of actors (in particular the local authorities), and in financial management. The projects that the Commission finances in the field of support to decentralisation and to the local authorities ensure that these communities benefit directly from the resources allocated to these projects by setting up mechanisms allowing the strengthening of their institutional, technical and financial capacities. Thus, the projects currently in hand to support decentralisation and the local authorities generally envisage training and technical support for the local authorities and elected representatives, the setting up of investment funds for communal infrastructures and utilities, or the provision of credit lines to improve the communal services. Similar procedures are applied in the case of South Africa.

The Commission followed very closely the organisation and the setting up of the Platform of local governments of the ACP countries and took part in the seminar organised by this Platform on 14 March 2002 in order to review together the possibilities of cooperation with the local authorities in the ACP countries.

As to the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) the services of the EuropeAid Cooperation Office have twice met a representative of the CLGF. At these meetings, the Commission has informed the representative of the CLGF of the efforts made by the Commission in the field of strengthening the capacities of the local authorities in the ACP countries. In addition, the budgetary financing methods applicable to the European Development Fund and to the ‘South Africa’ and ‘decentralised cooperation budget lines’ were explained. It should be noted, in line with the above, that the Commission does not regard the CLGF to be a necessary interlocutor in our efforts to support local governments in the ACP countries.

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