COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Assessing the 2005 European Consensus on Development and accompanying the initiative "Proposal for a new European Consensus on Development" Executive Summary Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Proposal for a new European Consensus on Development Our World, our Dignity, our Future
Date: 2016-11-22
Institutions: Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, cooperation policy, democracy, developing countries, development aid, environmental protection, human rights, job creation, poverty, sustainable development

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Strasbourg, 22.11.2016  SWD(2016) 388 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Assessing the 2005 European Consensus on Development and accompanying the initiative "Proposal for a new European Consensus on Development"  Executive Summary Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Proposal for a new European Consensus on Development Our World, our Dignity, our Future  {COM(2016) 740 final} {SWD(2016) 387 final} {SWD(2016) 389 final}  
 
 
Commission Staff Working Document 

Assessing the 2005 European Consensus on Development and accompanying the 
Initiative "Proposal for a new European Consensus on Development" 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  

This  Staff  Working  Document  (SWD)  accompanies  the  Communication  to  the  European 
Parliament and the Council on a "Proposal for a new European Consensus on Development". 
In line with the Roadmap1, the purpose of the SWD is to provide an overview of the outcomes 
from  available  evaluation  exercises.  In  so  doing,  the  SWD  analyses the  extent to  which  the 
EU and its Member States have aligned their policies and strategies to the objectives, values 
and  principles  of  the  European  Consensus  on  Development2  and  also  reviews  the  extent  to 
which the Consensus has guided development cooperation activities entrusted to the EU and 
their implementation. 

The findings show that the objectives of the European Consensus, such as poverty reduction, 
sustainable development and the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have 
generally been integrated by the EU and the Member States in their development policies. A 
broad  alignment  with  the  Consensus'  common  values  of  respect  for  human  rights, 
fundamental freedoms, peace, democracy, good governance, gender equality, the rule of law, 
solidarity  and  justice,  has  also  been  observed.  A  significant  degree  of  alignment  is  found 
between  the  Consensus'  principles,  such  as  ownership  and  partnership,  political  dialogue, 
participation of civil society, gender and fragility, and the EU and Member States policies  - 
although  some  principles  were  not  always  followed-up  by  clearly  defined  strategies.  On 
working  better  together,  the  EU  and  Member  States  showed  high  levels  of  commitment  to 
improving  aid  and  development 
enhancing  coordination  and  complementarity  and 
effectiveness. This is illustrated by their leading role in international fora and concrete steps in 
enhancing  transparency,  inclusive  partnerships  and  coordination,  the  latter  notably  through 
significant progress in Joint Programming. 

The  evidence  points  to  the  relevance  and  effectiveness  of  the  Consensus  in  guiding  EU 
development  cooperation  and  contributing  to  its  objectives,  in  particular  poverty  reduction, 
specifically  through  support  to  food  security,  education  and  health,  and  growth,  namely 
through support to macroeconomic stability, trade and infrastructure. Similarly, the Consensus 
was translated in differentiating resource allocations towards countries most in need, the use 
of innovative aid modalities and increased commitment in Policy Coherence for Development. 

According  to  Development  Assistance  Committee  of  the  Organisation  for  Economic 
Cooperation and Development (OECD/DAC) peer reviews, the Consensus has been a “major 
strategic success”3 and a “key milestone”4. The evidence indeed shows that the Consensus has 

1http://ec.europa.eu/smart-
regulation/roadmaps/docs/2016_devco_003_european_consensus_on_development_en.pdf  
2 Available at http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ%3AC%3A2006%3A046%3A0001%3A0019%3AEN%3APDF 
3  OECD/DAC  Peer  Review  of  the  European  Community,  2007,  available  at  http://www.oecd.org/dac/peer-
reviews/38965119.pdf, p. 13. 

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had  an  added-value  in  fostering  a  shared  and  common  vision  for  EU  and  Member  States 
development cooperation and, in the cases of new Member States, it had a direct influence in 
the  shaping  of  their  development  policies.  The  Consensus  also  played  an  important  role  in 
guiding  EU  development  cooperation,  which  has  progressively  adapted  to  its  priorities  and 
principles. The Consensus has also increased the EU added value by allowing the EU to play 
leading  roles,  for  example  in  promoting  Joint  Programming  and  articulating  the  EU  and 
Member  States  views  in  international  agreements.  Overall,  the  Consensus  has  played  a  key 
role in fostering and driving a new impetus to EU development policy. 

4  OECD/DAC  Peer  Review  of  the  European  Union,  2012,  available  at  http://www.oecd.org/dac/peer-
reviews/50155684.pdf, p. 28 

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