Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - EU 2009 report on policy coherence for development SEC(2009) 1137 final
Date: 2009-09-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU action, EU policy, aid system, developing countries, development aid, development policy, right to development, the EU's international role

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 17.9.2009 
COM(2009) 461 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND 
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

EU 2009 REPORT ON POLICY COHERENCE FOR DEVELOPMENT 

SEC(2009) 1137 final 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

3.4. 

3.5. 

3.6. 

3.7. 

3.8. 

3.9. 

The EU's Commitment to PCD.................................................................................... 3 

Organisational Mechanisms ......................................................................................... 3 

Progress in the thematic areas ...................................................................................... 5 

Trade ............................................................................................................................ 5 

Environment................................................................................................................. 5 

Climate Change............................................................................................................ 6 

Security ........................................................................................................................ 6 

Agriculture ................................................................................................................... 6 

Fisheries ....................................................................................................................... 7 

Social dimension of globalisation, employment and decent work............................... 7 

Migration...................................................................................................................... 7 

Research ....................................................................................................................... 8 

3.10. 

Information Society...................................................................................................... 8 

3.11. 

Transport ...................................................................................................................... 8 

3.12. 

Energy .......................................................................................................................... 9 

4. 

5. 

Assessing the impact of increased PCD against the MDGs: Taking a Results based 
approach ....................................................................................................................... 9 

Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 11 

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1. 

THE EU'S COMMITMENT TO PCD 

Realising that  its  policies  in areas other than development  had some unintended  impacts  on 
third countries and building on the OECD work in this area, the Union elaborated a concept of 
Policy  Coherence  for  Development  aimed  at  strengthening  synergies  between  EU  polices 
other than aid and development objectives. Careful design and implementation of EU policies 
were  to  lead  to  increased  effectiveness  of  development  aid  and  non  aid  policies  altogether, 
and to an efficient use of resources, by limiting policy incoherence and developing synergies.  

To make such an approach a reality, the EU took bold commitments towards PCD in twelve 
policy  areas1  in  2005  and  dedicated  time  and  energy  to  strengthening  PCD  procedures, 
instruments and mechanisms at all levels since then. These efforts where formally embedded 
in the European Consensus on Development adopted in December 2005, and a first progress 
report on PCD in the Union, integrating the views and expertise of the Commission and EU 
Member States, was issued by the Commission in September 2007, in line with the mandate 
from the Council in May 2005.  

A results based approach to assessing PCD 

The debate that followed the issuing of the 2007 PCD report, together with debates with civil 
society organisations and international organisations on PCD issues, in particular the OECD, 
led  to  a  rethinking  of  the  EU  PCD  methodology  for  the  2009  reporting  exercise  and  to  an 
increased focus on the impact on developing countries.  

In keeping with the positive experience of 2007 while integrating some evidence based PCD 
analysis,  the  2009  Report  has  been  prepared  on  the  basis  of  a  two  pronged  approach.  An 
updated analysis of policy changes was compiled, on the basis of contributions from Member 
States  and  the  various  Commission  services.  As  such,  the  2009  report  remains  an  EU  wide 
effort to reflect European endeavours to promote PCD at national, EU or international levels 
and to report on progress made towards the PCD commitments. 

In addition, the 2009 report also presents an overall conceptual framework linking the 12 EU 
policies  areas  to  the  Millenium  Development  Goals  (MDGs)  in  developing  countries  and 
elaborates  on  three  concrete  case  studies  in  developing  countries  and  specifically  in  Africa, 
given the particularly dramatic situation of the continent with regard to the MDGs. Two case 
studies focus on MDGs (MDG1 on hunger and MDG6 on fight against HIV/AIDS) in three 
developing countries (Ethiopia, Mozambique and Senegal for MDG1; Rwanda, Tanzania and 
Zambia  for  MDG6),  the  third  case  study  concentrates  on  the  Africa  EU  joint  Strategy  as  a 
framework with strong PCD potential.  

2. 

ORGANISATIONAL MECHANISMS  

Since  2007  the  EU  has  substantially  strengthened  its  approach  towards  PCD,  with  the 
emphasis on implementing the policy commitments made in 2005, as well as the sharpening 
of the mechanisms to promote PCD, their more effective use and awareness raising.  

1 

May  2005  Council  Conclusions  on  PCD.  The  twelve  policy  areas  are  Trade,  Environment,  Climate 
Change,  Security,  Agriculture,  Fisheries,  Social  Dimension  of  Globalisation,  employment  and  decent 
work, Migration, research, Innovation, Information Society, transport and Energy. 

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The Commission has achieved a high profile for its work on PCD, as recognised in the latest 
Development  Assistance  Committee  (DAC)  Peer  Review  of  EC  aid2.  In  2008,  the 
Commission took its PCD work further by sharpening, and making better use of inter-service 
consultation (ISC) and impact assessments (IA), both of which are powerful mechanisms to 
promote  PCD.  At  international  level,  the  Commission  contributed  to  the  OECD  DAC 
Reflection exercise on the revision of the DAC mandate thus helping to make PCD a renewed 
priority for the OECD in the future. 

At  the  Council  level  some  progress  was  made  through  the  PCD  Rolling  Work  Programme, 
the PCD screening of the Council agenda and joint Council sessions, even though systematic 
follow-up  of  these  exercises  proved  to  be  rather  limited.  While  EU  Presidencies  can  play  a 
lead  role  on  PCD,  their  efforts  are  necessarily  limited  to  their  term  of  office,  which  often 
results in a lack of continuity from one EU Presidency to the other. 

The European Parliament took a keener interest in PCD during the second half of its term. 
MEPs asked many written questions on specific aspects of EU policies including migration, 
trade and fisheries and their impacts on developing countries. On 17 June 2008, the EP also 
adopted  a  resolution  on  policy  coherence  for  development  and  the  effects  of  the  EU’s 
exploitation of certain biological natural resources on development in West Africa.  

Member  States  have  also  made  progress  individually.  Many  of  them  strengthened  their 
commitment to PCD, refined their institutional mechanisms to promote PCD and engaged in a 
more intensive dialogue with society at large. Member States with a legal base on PCD found 
it  easier  to  promote  PCD.  Obstacles  remain  with  regard  to  the  lack  of  awareness  of 
development  issues  on  the  part  of  non-development  line-ministries.  This  is  compounded  by 
the difficulty of providing evidence about the ultimate impact of non development policies on 
poverty  in  developing  countries,  making  it  difficult  to  demonstrate  the  results  of  increased 
PCD. 

However, the picture is not all rosy. Difficulties encountered at the national level often spill 
over to the EU level and are sometimes self-reinforcing. Member States point to the lack of 
political will and the limited priority given to world poverty reduction as a serious hindrance 
to  progress  on  PCD.  Diverging  interests  can  make  it  difficult  at  times  to  ensure  consistent 
Council messages on PCD.  

Based  on  this  groundwork  it  appears  that  a  more  strategic  approach  could  be  proposed. 
Reporting on PCD progress achieved in the 12 policy areas has been important as a way to 
raise  awareness  and  to  demonstrate  the  importance  of  the  broader  EU  policy  agenda  for 
development.  The  strengthening  of  the  PCD  instruments  was  necessary  in  order  to  better 
harness  the  potential  of  EU  policies  for  development.  However,  in  order  to  make  real 
progress,  the  EU  needs  to  change  its  approach.  Rather  than  monitoring  the  impact  of  all 
policies on developing countries the EU could promote PCD more effectively through a more 
focussed approach. The EU should select some key development challenges, analyse how it 
can contribute to achieving them through the broad array of its policies and instruments, and 
ensure political mobilisation around these challenges.  

In this third phase the EU should also move towards a partnership approach to PCD. The EU 
and  developing  countries  could  for  instance  launch  a  reflection  on  the  consultation 

2 

OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Peer Review of the European Community, 2007 

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mechanisms  provided  for  in  the  impact  assessment  guidelines,  the  Cotonou  Agreement  and 
possibly also the Africa-EU Partnership and improve them if necessary. 

3. 

PROGRESS IN THE THEMATIC AREAS 

Progress made in the 12 policy areas is uneven. The PCD report assesses the progress made in 
each  of  the  areas  and  identifies  outstanding  issues  that  need  to  be  addressed  to  enhance 
synergies between the different policies. 

3.1. 

Trade 

Progress  in  Trade  PCD  commitments  has  been  made  in  those  areas  in  which  the  EU  can 
control the outcome – e.g. autonomous preferences offered to developing countries (such as 
the GSP and the transitional Market Access Regulation for ACP countries having initialled an 
EPA).  On  other  issues,  the  EU  has  been  working  actively  towards  the  achievement  of  a 
successful  outcome  and  is  continuing  to  do  so  in  order  to  achieve  possible  effective 
development friendly outcomes. At the multilateral level, a breakthrough in the WTO3 Doha 
Development  Agenda  requires  the  commitment  of  all  key  players,  including  the  major 
emerging  economies.  At  the  bilateral  level,  a  successful  conclusion  of  EPAs  and  FTAs 
depends on substantial efforts by both parties (EU and partner countries) to reach agreements 
that  appropriately  foster  regional  integration  and  take  the  developmental  dimension  into 
account.  

3.2. 

Environment 

Some  good  progress  has  been  made  in  the  EU  to  integrate  development  concerns  into  the 
environment  policy  area,  as  exemplified  among  others  by  the  Sustainable  Consumption  and 
Production  initiative,  the  Forest  package  or  the  strengthening  of  dialogue  with  developing, 
including emerging, economies. However, a few critical issues remain to be tackled, such as 
improving International Environment Governance and reinforcing the implementation of the 
Convention on Biodiversity. 

More  coherence  for  development  is  paramount  in  the  environment  policy  area  if  the 
"greening" of the developed and developing countries economies is to deliver on its promises 

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World Trade Organisation 

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of a safer and more hospitable world. Strong and converging public policies are required to 
provide  clear  guidance  and  orientation  for  the  public  at  large  to  allow  a  rapid  and  smooth 
environment friendly global economic transition. Policy coherence for development provides 
the  required  tools  (e.g.  consultation  mechanisms,  Impact  Assessment)  to  ensure  that 
developing countries will be part and parcel of these developments. 

3.3. 

Climate Change 

Good progress has been made in Climate Change policies as their development dimension is 
gradually  being  better  understood  and  articulated.  Within  the  EU,  the  Climate  Change  and 
Energy Package adopted in 2008 will offer important opportunities for developing countries 
in particular with regards to Clean Development Mechanisms, Carbon Capture and Storage, 
sustainable production of biofuels, the development of low carbon strategies etc. Progress has 
also been made with the launch of the Global Climate Change Alliance in 2007, with the UN 
post-2012  negotiations  on  Climate  Change,  which  should  take  development  concerns  into 
account  in  the  run-up  to  the  United  Nations  Climate  Change  Conference  taking  place  in 
Copenhagen,  in  December  2009,  and  with  development  policies  which  now  better  integrate 
mitigation and adaptation measures, even if implementation is still at an early stage.  

In the context of the financial and economic crisis, which is likely to divert the attention and 
budget  allocation  of  both  developed  and  developing  countries  towards  issues  of  immediate 
interest, it is of the utmost importance that policy dialogue should be enhanced to develop a 
shared vision with the most vulnerable developing countries, thus highlighting the necessary 
coherence of our actions in the field of climate change, energy and development.  

3.4. 

Security 

The  European  Union  supports  peace  processes  in  many  developing  countries  politically, 
financially  and  with  military  means  thereby  providing  these  countries  with  the  stability  and 
peace  needed  for  development.  However  as  acknowledged 
the 
Implementation  of  the  European  Security  Strategy,  which  was  endorsed  by  the  European 
Council in December 2008, there is a need to further strengthen coherence. 

the  Report  on 

in 

At  EU  level,  the  pillar  structure  still  impedes  coherent  action  between  ESDP  missions  and 
development  cooperation.  The  different  services  of  the  Commission  and  the  Council  keep 
each other mutually informed, but there is room for further improving the inter-institutional 
co-ordination, planning and decision-making. The proper sequencing and coordination of EU 
activities are particularly important as well as the alignment with partner country initiatives. 
Also,  the  EU  should  increase  its  efforts  to  speak  with  one  voice.  The  Africa-EU  Strategic 
Partnership on Peace and Security clearly is a milestone on the way towards more PCD. 

3.5. 

Agriculture 

The world wide food prices crisis of 2007-2008 shed some new lights on the food situation in 
developing  countries  underlining  the  numerous  factors  at  work  and  their  intricate  inter-
relationships. The impact of EU agriculture policy therefore has to be pondered carefully in 
the face of such complexity and here the recent adaptation of the Common Agriculture Policy 
represents a step in the right direction, in particular through the decoupling of a greater share 
of income support to farmers and the reduction in export subsidies in recent year in the EU. 
Beyond its domestic agriculture policy changes, the EU responded rapidly to the food prices 
crisis by setting up, among others, the €1 billion F ood Facility, thus demonstrating its strong 
in  partner  countries.  As  a 
commitment 

to  poverty  eradication  and  food  security 

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complementary  measure,  the  EU  decided  to  strengthen  the  focus  on  agriculture  in  its 
development efforts and offered a safeguard clause on Food Security, which helps to ensure 
food security in the Economic Partnership Agreements negotiated with Africa, Caribbean and 
Pacific (ACP) countries. 

Food  and  Agriculture  will  remain  high  on  the  international  political  agenda  in  the  coming 
years and, in the longer term, agricultural policy both in the EU, and in developing countries, 
should  take  into  account  the  constraints  imposed  by  climate  change  measures,  demographic 
trends,  changes  in  consumption  patterns  and  the  limited  area  of  new  land  available  for 
cultivation.  Feeding  the  world's  growing  population  will  require  globally  doubling  the 
production  of  food  by  2050,  with  a  fourfold  increase  needed  in  Africa.  In  that  context, 
progress in agricultural productivity, especially in developing countries, and sustainability of 
the production will be critical challenges which coherent agriculture and development policies 
in EU will help address. 

3.6. 

Fisheries 

With  the  replacement  of  all  old-style  fisheries  agreements  by  Fisheries  Partnership 
Agreements  the  EU  has  implemented  the  more  development  friendly  policy  framework 
established through the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) as decided in 2002 and 
2004. The measures taken at EU level to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing 
are important steps to avoid resources diminishing and a situation where developing countries 
lose  potential  catches  and  revenues.  However  concerns  remain  with  regard  to  the 
sustainability and the social consequences of the agreements. The forthcoming reform of the 
CFP provides an opportunity to re-evaluate the external dimension of this policy with a view 
to making it more development-friendly. 

3.7. 

Social dimension of globalisation, employment and decent work 

In the area of the social dimension of globalisation, the issues that are to be tackled are wide-
ranging  (decent  work,  gender,  children,  youth,  employment  programmes)  and  coordination 
and  coherence  is  important  although  not  easy  to  achieve.  The  EU  is  continuing  with  its 
commitment  to  raise  important  issues  in  international  fora.  In  light  of  the  global  economic 
crisis,  the  social  dimension  of  globalisation  and  decent  work  becomes  even  more  important 
for  development  and  poverty  reduction.  Raising  the  level  of  social  protection,  funding  of 
social  safety  nets  and  using  the  decent  work  agenda  as  tools  to  tackle  the  crisis  are  vital 
elements in addressing the issues. Promoting and taking account of the gender dimension as 
an automatic reflex across the board is crucial in this respect.  

3.8.  Migration 

Through  its  Global  Approach  to  Migration,  the  European  Union  seeks  to  ensure  that  the 
positive benefits of migration are harnessed to bring mutual benefit to the EU and its partner 
countries. The Policy Coherence for Development process is instrumental to ensure that this 
delicate balance is taken forward. The EU has reinforced its dialogue with third countries on 
migration  and  development  issues  while  further  integrating  mutual  migration  concerns  and 
challenges  in  cooperation  with  these  countries.  These  efforts  need  to  continue  in  order  to 
embark upon the policy challenge of offering real migration and mobility options for nationals 
of developing countries legally seeking employment in the EU. Portability of socio-economic 
rights  is  also  being  addressed  but  needs  to  be  tackled  further  in  the  coming  years. 
Furthermore, implementation has started and must continue on a number of issues, especially 

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remittances,  increased  mobility,  and  a  stronger  relationship  and  dialogue  with  diaspora 
organisations. Also, facilitating labour migration, labour matching, the efficient transfer and 
recognition  of  new  skills  and  addressing  brain  drain  remains  important.  Finally,  new  issues 
such  as  the  impact  of  the  economic  crisis  and  climate  change  on  migration,  will  be  further 
explored. 

3.9. 

Research 

The EU continues to contribute to development  objectives  through  its  research  programmes 
and to promote the participation of researchers from developing countries in research projects 
and  mobility  schemes.  By  financing  projects  across  a  broad  range  of  issues,  such  as  in  the 
health or food security areas, research policy has contributed decisively to development. 

However,  overall,  the  participation  of  researchers  from  developing  countries  often  remains 
low.  A  major  difficulty  of  involving  developing  countries  into  research  cooperation  is  their 
limited research capacity and infrastructure.  

In addition to actions in support of developing countries, and in particular the strengthening of 
research  capacities,  increased  emphasis  is  being  placed  on  an  intensified  dialogue  with 
regional bodies to identify common research priorities and capacities for joint research. The 
AUC  could  play  an  important  role  in  that  respect  e.g.  by  managing  an  African  research 
programme  and  by  playing  an  active  role  in  facilitating  the  partnership  between  Africa  and 
Europe in research 

3.10. 

Information Society  

The  EU  has  taken  important  steps  to  promote  an  inclusive  Information  Society.  It  has 
intensified  its  research  cooperation  with  developing  countries  in  the  area  of  ICT  and  has 
stepped  up  its  cooperation  on  regulatory  issues  with  them.  Internet  expansion  is  also  being 
addressed  by  the  African  Union  (AU)  and  the  European  Union  (EU)  as  part  of  the  new 
strategic partnership for science, Information Society and space. Through this partnership the 
EU  supports  the  building  of  infrastructure  and  the  strengthening  of  capacity  for  ICT  in 
developing countries. The potential of this partnership should be further exploited to intensify 
research  cooperation,  continue  policy  dialogue  and  increase  efforts  to  expand  ICT 
infrastructure. 

3.11.  Transport 

In the area of Transport, coherence is increasingly being addressed by more balanced actions 
across  transport  modes,  in  particular  in  Sub-Saharan  Africa,  and  addressing  cross-cutting 
issues. Better frameworks for coordination and cooperation would be needed in order to set 
out PCD goals and initiatives. The Partnership on Infrastructure could be an important starting 
point if the actors involved were to make use of the opportunity at hand.  

Strengthening cooperation between Europe and Africa in the transport sector is at the core of 
the  Communication  on  partnership  between  European  Union  and  Africa.  It  aims  to  connect 
the  Trans-European  and  African  networks.  The  Commission  will  make  available  the 
experience  it  gained  from  European  Transport  Policy  to  its  African  partners.  This  seeks  to 
contribute  to  the  implementation  of  a  more  efficient  transport  system,  assisting  in  the 
development  of  the  African  continent  in  order  to  face  the  challenges  of  poverty, 
environmental degradation and migratory imbalances.  

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3.12.  Energy 

Over  the  last  two  years,  Energy  has  received  significant  political  attention  and  possible 
synergies  with  development  have  been  sought.  The  2008  EU  Climate  Change  and  Energy 
Package,  for  instance,  could  affect  developing  countries,  in  particular  through  its  biofuel 
chapter, by creating new opportunities for biofuel exports. Both opportunities and risks will 
be  generated  and  those  will  need  to  be  carefully  weighted.  Against  this  background,  the 
development  dimensions  of  the  EU  biofuels  policy  have  been  considered  carefully. 
Reciprocally,  development  policies  in  specific  developing  countries  can  be  implemented  in 
synergy,  helping  countries  where  there  is  good  potential  to  develop  biofuel  production  and 
use,  with  due  respect  for  the  sustainability  scheme  outlined  in  EU’s  Renewable  Energy 
Directive. However progress has also been achieved on other initiatives as exemplified by the 
setting  up  and  implementation  of  energy  dialogues  with  developing  countries,  including 
emerging  countries,  or  through  the  adoption  of  a  thematic  programme  to  support  the 
environment  and  the  sustainable  management  of  natural  resources,  including  energy,  in  the 
developing world.  

Future energy policies and energy related technology strategy in the EU will play a key role in 
ensuring the sustainable economic development of the Union, its response to Climate Change 
and  its  efforts  to  assist  developing  countries  to  reach  the  Millennium  Development  Goals. 
There are synergies between the policies of the EU and the developing countries' which will 
need to be harnessed. Such complementarities will contribute to better access to sustainable 
energy  for  all  partners  while  allowing  important  climate  changes  targets  to  be  met.  Under 
these conditions, economic development can continue and should assist with delivering on the 
double goals sets to eradicating poverty through better access to energy and keeping climate 
change within acceptable parameters4. 

4. 

ASSESSING  THE  IMPACT  OF  INCREASED  PCD  AGAINST  THE  MDGS:  TAKING  A 
RESULTS BASED APPROACH 

The EU Research paper on "the MDGs at Midpoint: where do we stand and where do we need 
to  go?"5  is  the  starting  point  for  the  conceptual  framework  to  assess  PCD  impact  in 
developing  countries.  The  approach  stresses  the  importance  of  three  clusters  of  policies, 
namely  the  global  context,  development  assistance,  and  domestic  policy,  that  are  important 
for achieving MDGs.  

While understanding the interactions between these three clusters is key to assessing progress 
on  MDGs,  the  PCD  focus  is  more  specifically  placed  on  the  interactions  between  the 
development assistance policies and other policies of the EU as highlighted below (Fig.1)  

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EU objectives is limit the global average temperature increase to not more than 2°C above pre-industrial 
levels. 
http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/mdg_paper_final_20080916_en.pdf, 
Bourguignon et al’s (2008b) 

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Figure 1: Key Policy Interactions and progress on MDGs 

Partner ’s policies

MDG/dev
policies

PCD

Non dev 
policies

Progress 
on achieving 
MDGs

Alignment

Global context

Other 
Non - EU/EC 
policies 

Other 
EU/EC
policies

Harmonisation 

Donor Dev Assist

PCD

EU/EC 
Dev Assist

Non -
EU/EC 

Harmonisation

Such a framework allows for a systematic exploration of the effects, positive or negative, that 
EU  policies  other  than  aid  might  have  on  development,  and,  more  specifically,  on  the 
achievement of the MDGs. While very often the emphasis is on the potential negative impact, 
the framework also encourages the identification of possible synergies, and potential positive 
impacts on development, in addition to the core sector objective of the policies.  

Elements gathered from the field studies in Mozambique, Ethiopia and Senegal for the case 
study  on  MDG  1  (in  relation  to  hunger)  confirmed  that  depending  on  the  country’s 
characteristics, a set of impacts can occur in relation to EU food safety standards, agriculture 
and  trade  policies.  However,  the  problem  of  attributing  impacts  such  as  the  relative  role  of 
EU, other international policies and domestic policies in generating the impacts - remains a 
limiting factor in the exercise and any attempt to extract policy recommendations from such 
an interplay should be carried out with extreme caution. In addition EU policies and domestic 
policies sometimes converge, leading to a similar impact: in Ethiopia or Senegal for instance, 
changes from trading bulk commodities to marketing of differentiated products into specific 
EU markets are as much a result of EU policy initiatives (food safety standards, agricultural 
and trade policies) as the result of a deliberate attempts by those two countries to shift to more 
differentiated products with higher value-added. Regarding fisheries, the situation in Senegal 
has  highlighted  the  potential  for  synergies  between  an  EU  Fisheries  Partnership  Agreement 
and  the  Senegal  fisheries  policy  which  need  to  be  reinforced  and  supported.  Regarding 
climate  change  and  energy  policies,  the  current  EU  efforts  on  the  international  scene  to 
simplify access to CDM for developing countries should help the three countries sampled to 
benefit from CDM projects in the future. In addition, the opportunities offered by the biofuel 
chapter of the 2008 EU Climate Change and Energy Package should allow both Mozambique 
and  Ethiopia  to  develop  further  in  that  sector,  with  expected  positive  impacts  on  poverty 
reduction in Mozambique, for instance. 

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The case study on MDG 6 (in relation to the combat against HIV/Aids), looks at the impact 
that EU trade policy, and in particular Trade Related Aspects of International Property Rights, 
research and migration policies have had on the access to HIV treatment in Tanzania, Zambia 
and Rwanda. It finds that neither Rwanda nor Zambia managed to make use of the flexibilities 
offered  by  the  TRIPS  agreement  due  to  issues  not  directly  related  to  the  agreement.  In 
Tanzania though there seems to be some scope to explore and use the flexibilities of TRIPS 
and to make progress towards MDG6.  

With  regard  to  research  policy  the  study  finds  that  some  important  Commission  financed 
projects in Tanzania have either already contributed to fighting HIV/AIDS or have the strong 
potential  to  do  so.  Some  recent  developments  in  migration  policy  show  the  increased 
awareness  in  the  EU  of  the  impact  of  its  migration  policies  on  staffing  levels  in  the  health 
sector in developing countries. However the study has so far been unable to produce concrete 
evidence of these provisions working out in practice. 

The case study on the Joint Africa EU Strategy (JAES) looks into the potential impact on 
PCD.  Adopted  in  December  2007,  the  JAES  is  a  new  framework  that  extends  longstanding 
cooperation  between  the  two  continents  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Africa,  beyond 
development  policy  and  beyond  institutional  actors.  This  new  framework  has  also  been  an 
important  step  towards  treating  Africa  as  one  and  putting  into  practice  the  principle  of 
division of labour to further enhance the coherence and complementarity of EU action. Given 
the  short  time  frame  since  its  inception  and  operationalisation,  the  JAES  has  shown  some, 
albeit limited, impact on PCD outcomes to date. Expectations must be kept realistic, given the 
wider challenges associated with JAES implementation.  

5. 

CONCLUSION 

In  keeping  with  the  original  mandate,  the  2009  report  provides  a  basis  for  assessing  PCD 
progress  in  the  EU.  In  addition,  the  report  takes  a  results  based  approach  by  looking  at  the 
effects  EU  policies  have  had  on  developing  countries  and  their  capacity  to  meet  the  MDGs 
and the PCD potential of the Africa-EU Joint Strategy. Through this combined approach the 
report  provides  both  concrete  evidence  from  developing  countries  on  the  relevance  of  PCD 
and illustrates how the EU through a broad range of policies can support developing countries 
in  their  combat  against  poverty.  As  an  information  tool  the  report  is  intended  to  generate 
debate and feedback from a broad range of actors in the private and public spheres. 

EN 

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