REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE HIGH-LEVEL GROUP OF WISE PERSONS ON THE EUROPEAN FINANCIAL ARCHITECTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT
Date: 2020-01-31
Institutions: Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, EU growth strategy, EU investment, EU programme, European External Action Service, cooperation policy, development policy, investment policy, private sector

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 31.1.2020  COM(2020) 43 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE HIGH-LEVEL GROUP OF WISE PERSONS ON THE EUROPEAN FINANCIAL ARCHITECTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT  
 
 
Introduction 

In  its  conclusions  of  5  December  2019  on  strengthening  the  European  financial  architecture  for 
development, the Council has invited the Commission, in collaboration with the European External 
Action Service (EEAS), to act on a number of recommendations identified by the High-Level Group of 
Wise persons1 (Wise Persons Group - WPG). The recommendations elaborate the steps to render the 
framework  for  external  investments  more  agile  and  effective.  Within this  context,  the  Council  has 
notably invited the European Commission and the EEAS to report to it, by the end of January 2020, 
on  the  measures  to  be  undertaken  which  will  strengthen  the  European  financial  architecture  for 
sustainable  development2.  This  report  aims  at  presenting,  for  each  Council  conclusion,  how  the 
Commission services and the  EEAS, in support of the High Representative  for Foreign and Security 
Policy / Vice-President of the Commission (High Representative / Vice President - HRVP), intend to 
ensure the appropriate follow-up.  

The  Council  conclusions  acknowledged  the  WPG’s  recognition  of  the  need  to  make  the  European 
financial  architecture  for  development  stronger,  more  flexible,  integrated,  coherent,  policy-driven 
and  responsive  to  climate  change  and  development  needs,  particularly  in  Africa  and  the 
Neighbourhood. The  Council  endorsed  a  number  of short-term  measures  put  forward  in the  WPG 
report  and  outlined  the  way  forward  for  preparing  a  political  reflection  on  possible  institutional 
reform3.  In  its  conclusions,  the  Council  firstly  emphasised  the  need  for  EU  Member  States,  in 
cooperation  with  the  European  Commission  services  and  the  EEAS,  to  act  towards  better 
coordination of EU positions in multilateral development fora and institutions in order to speak with 
a single and influential EU voice.   

Three  key  areas  for  improvement  as  outlined  in  this  follow-up  report  and  based  on  the  Council 
conclusions have been identified: i) coordination and coherence among actors in the development 
field; ii) communication and outreach; and iii) capacity, operationalisation and internal coordination. 
Several of the recommended steps have already been initiated in all of these areas through various 
strategic, policy or operational actions, or are envisaged to be implemented through the proposed 
Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI).4  

Moreover, the Commission in its communication of 12 September 20185, “Towards a more efficient 
financial architecture for investment outside the European Union”,  reiterates that the EU must be 
“agile  and  stand  ready  to  adapt  and  develop  further  its  financial  instruments  and  policy  tools  for 
investments outside the EU, hereby complementing its traditional development cooperation toolbox, 
in  order  to  deliver  on  its  ambitious  commitments  to  sustainable  development”  and  considers  the 
need  for  a  more  collaborative  approach  as  an  immediate  priority”.  Following  the  communication, 
the  Commission  has  held  two  meetings  centred  on  working  towards  a  more  efficient  financial 
architecture for investment outside the EU in October 2018 and January 2019 with Member States 
and their development  finance  institutions (DFIs),  international financial institutions (IFIs), and the 

1 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/40967/efad-report_final.pdf  
2 Article 25 of Council conclusions on Strengthening the European financial architecture for development 
3 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/12/05/financial-architecture-for-
development-council-adopts-conclusions-on-the-way-forward  
4 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/procedure/EN/2018_243 
5 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2018:0644:FIN 

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European  Parliament.  The  Commission  remains  ready  to  take  further  steps,  as  outlined  in  the 
present report and welcomes the Council conclusions and WPG recommendations on the creation of 
a more efficient financial architecture.  

Key Area 1: Coordination and coherence of development actors, efforts undertaken and to 
be implemented by Commission services and the EEAS  

Council  conclusion  18.  ENCOURAGES  the  European  Commission,  and  the  EEAS  including  through 
the network of EU Delegations, to strengthen their efforts in coordinating European development 
finance actors in partner countries, inter alia, through joint multiannual programming at country 
level with the Member States, the development of country platforms, as also proposed by the G20 
Eminent Persons Group Report, and regional investment facilities, recognising other frameworks, 
bringing together all relevant partners and maximising development impact and partner country 
ownership. This could be facilitated, inter alia, by further harmonising reporting practices across 
relevant development finance actors.  

The European Commission and the HRVP, supported by the EEAS  and the EU Delegations, work to 
strengthen and promote coordination among the different European development finance actors in 
partner countries.  

One illustration of such effort is the EU External Investment Plan (EIP), which was launched in 2017. 
The  EIP  builds on  the  successful  implementation  of blending  operations and  is  a  major  EU  tool to 
encourage  sustainable  development  and  to  further  boost  investments  in  partner  countries  in  the 
EU’s  Neighbourhood  and  Sub-Saharan  Africa.  The  Commission  has  begun  rolling  out  a  new 
generation of financial instruments based on risk sharing (through guarantees from the EU budget), 
in  order  to  catalyse  substantial  additional  funds  with  both  public  and  private  investors.  The  EIP 
brings together the EU external actors (Commission, HRVP and the EU Delegations), Member States 
and  their  embassies,  finance  institutions  and  the  private  sector,  while  also  contributing  to  the 
objectives  of  the  Africa-Europe  Alliance  for  Sustainable  Investment  and  Jobs6  and  the  European 
Neighbourhood Policy. 

The  EIP  consists  of  three  pillars.  The  first  pillar  (Pillar  I)  is  finance.  Through  the  use  of  budgetary 
guarantees, the EU shares the risk and through blending projects, the EU covers part of the costs of a 
development project through the combination of EU financial support (grants) with loans or equity 
or guarantees from other public and private financiers. 

The Plan’s second pillar (Pillar II) consists of technical assistance. This assistance funds experts who 
help  develop  new  projects,  enable  local  and  EU  firms  to  draft  business  plans  and  support 
governments  in  enacting  reforms.  For  investments  to  materialise,  the  EU  provides  technical 

6 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1537433689163&uri=CELEX:52018DC0643 

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assistance  to  support  the  implementation  of  the  guarantees  and  the  preparation  of  bankable 
projects. Technical assistance is also crucial to enhance the capacity of public institutions to improve 
the  investment  climate.  Since  2017,  the  EU,  under  the  EIP,  has  mobilised  over  EUR  500  million  in 
technical assistance to support the definition and quality improvement of viable projects under the 
guarantee and blending operations. 

The  last  pillar  of  the  Plan  (Pillar  III)  is  investment  climate  support.  The  EU  works  closely  with 
governments  in  partner  countries  to  help  them  improve  the  framework  conditions  that  investors 
consider when making their financial assessments and decisions. The EU also helps to bring together 
governments, business and financial institutions to discuss investment challenges. 

The  NDICI  proposal  seeks  to  integrate  a  number  of  existing  external  financing  instruments  into  a 
single instrument which, through common processes and governance, will harmonise development 
practices  and  enhance  policy  coherence.  The  budgetary  guarantees  will,  for  the  first  time,  be 
programmed  along  with  all  other  forms  of  assistance  (Article  12  (1)  of  the  proposed  NDICI 
Regulation stipulates that “the implementation of this regulation shall be carried out for geographic 
programmes through multiannual country and multi-country indicative programmes”). Furthermore, 
the proposal also envisions a stronger role for joint programming moving forward.  Article 10 (2) (b) 
foresees  that  “joint  programming  shall  be  the  preferred  approach  for  country  programming.  Joint 
programming shall be open to other donors where relevant”.  

The  Commission  services  and  the  EEAS  have  been  encouraging  joint  programming  as  a  means  of 
bridging  the  gap  between  the  Union,  its  Member  States  and  EU  development  partners  in 
implementing  development  support  in  partner  countries  to  maximise  the  impact  of  EU  external 
action.  Joint  programming  will  be  the  preferred  option  under  the  NDICI  Regulation.  The  objective 
includes building a joined-up approach with Member States in the implementation of Pillar III of the 
EIP  with  the  view  to  deepen  further  coordination  and  synergies  on  ongoing  and  planned  actions, 
improving the investment climate, building on local coordination mechanisms and Member States’ 
specific  areas  of expertise  and  networks,  such  as  under  the  Sustainable Business  for  Africa  (SB4A) 
platform.  Moreover,  Member  States  can  help  play  an  important  role  in  mobilising  European 
companies,  chambers  of  commerce,  trade  and  investment  promotion  agencies,  development 
agencies  and  development  finance  institutions.  It  should  also  be  noted  that  the  EU  is  the  largest 
partner  of  the  IMF  and  WB  on  technical  assistance  to  help  developing  countries  reach  the 
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Visibility of the EU in this respect should be improved. 

Since 2006, nine investment facilities7 for blending operations have served as mechanisms aimed at 
mobilising additional funding to meet the EU’s development objectives. The Boards are chaired by 
the European Commission and are composed of representatives of the Commission, HRVP and EU 
Member  States  (with  DFIs  as  observers),  bringing  together  the  stakeholders  and  further  aligning 
policy and investment interests. Since 2007, these regional investment facilities have leveraged over 
EUR  50  billion  with  an  EU  contribution  of  around  EUR  4.5  billion  allowing  several  hundreds  of 

7 The Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund, The Africa Investment Platform, the Asia Investment Facility, the 
Investment Facility for Central Asia, the Investment Facility for the Pacific, the Latin America Investment 
Facility, the Caribbean Investment Facility, the Neighbourhood Investment Facility and the Western Balkans 
Investment Framework 

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projects  aimed  primarily  at  the  energy,  environment  and  transport  sectors  to  be  financed.  In 
addition, blending contributed to supporting ongoing reforms in many of the countries and sectors 
that it operated in, as physical investments were accompanied by policy-level discussions, technical 
assistance and advisory services. 8 

One example of regional investment  facility is the Western Balkans Investment  Framework (WBIF) 
launched in 2009, which serves as a regional platform for six countries and helps bring together the 
EU,  IFIs,  Member  States,  other  donors  and  partner  countries  into  a  unified  platform  to  discuss 
strategic priorities in the region as well as a single prioritised investment pipeline, twice a year. It has 
the added value of ensuring that communication and reporting activities are harmonised among the 
different  partners  (e.g.  by  way  of  a  monitoring  report,  the  WBIF  annual  report,  WBIF  website 
management).  The  WBIF  finances  the  preparation  and  implementation  of  priority  infrastructure 
projects in the Western Balkans through grants from the Union budget and 20 bilateral donors, loans 
from the participating financial institutions and through national finance. Since 2009, the WBIF has 
supported 172 projects at an estimated project value of EUR 18.3 billion, also awarding EUR 1 billion 
in grants.9 

Building  upon  the  successes  of  the  regional  investment  facilities  and  taking  into  account  the 
recommendations  by  the  G20  Eminent  Persons  Group  on  Global  Financial  Governance,  the 
Commission  will continue  to  work through  the  Regional  Operational  Boards  foreseen  in  the  NDICI 
proposal, which help to bring together  all relevant  partners, thus maximising development impact 
and partner country ownership. These Regional Operational Boards will issue opinions with respect 
to budgetary guarantees as well as blending operations proposed by partner financial institutions in 
the context of the post-2020 European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+).10  

At the level of the NDICI as a whole, the role of the NDICI Committee will help to reinforce an “EU 
policy  centre”,  by  bringing  together  the  Commission  and  Member  States,  in  order  to  discuss  key 
decisions on the multi-annual indicative programmes, action plans and measures.11 Where relevant 
and appropriate, other partners will also be consulted in the course of the programming exercise. In 
addition, governance boards under the EFSD+ shall advise on overall strategic orientation. 

EU Delegations can facilitate country platforms and are in a position to serve as focal points, acting 
in  regular  consultation  with  Member  States  and  their  DFIs,  local  stakeholders,  IFIs  and  (when 
relevant) governments. Furthermore, EIP’s Pillar III focuses on regulatory reforms for improving the 
investment climate. This work is informed by structured dialogue with the private sector to bring in 
its perspective on business constraints and priority reforms.  

The Commission will also work towards ensuring the buy-in of all relevant actors and stakeholders 
and  accompany  countries  in  developing  integrated  national  financial  frameworks,  which  are 

8 Evaluation of Blending Final Report, December 2016, see footnote 12 below 
9 https://wbif.eu/storage/app/media/Library/1.%20Governance/WBIF%20at%20a%20Glance%20Final_Nov19.pdf 
10 The EFSD+ Regional Operational Boards are envisaged to be convened for the following regions, as defined 
in the proposed NDICI Regulation: Neighbourhood; Sub-Saharan Africa; Asia and the Pacific; Americas and the 
Caribbean. For the governance of resources from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance III to be used 
through the EFSD+, existing structures of the Western Balkans Investment Framework will be built upon. 
11 See chapter I of the proposed NDICI Regulation (“Programming”)  

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important  for  mapping  all  available  financial  resources  (official  development  assistance  (ODA), 
investment,  domestic  resources,  remittances,  etc.),  maximising  development  impact  and  ensuring 
partner country ownership. This will ensure the effectiveness of these platforms.  

Council conclusion 19. INVITES the European Commission to strengthen its existing development 
finance capacity to evaluate the consistency of projects and investment proposals with EU policies 
in line with its competencies. 

The European Commission continues to work on strengthening its development finance capacity to 
evaluate investment programme proposals and their alignment with EU policies.  

However,  the  Commission  recognises  that  the  significant  increase  in  terms  of  guarantees  to  be 
managed by the Commission under the EFSD+ might require further strategic reallocation, and even 
increase, of its human resources, category of staff and relevant profiles to re-enforce the concerned 
working  sectors’ capacities  and  to ensure  adequate  policy  steering,  in  order  to  maintain  sufficient 
links  between EU-supported investments, policy reforms promoted by the EU in partner countries 
and related capacity-building efforts. 

In the 2014-20 period, the Commission oversaw the External Lending Mandate of the EIB (budgetary 
guarantee  cover  of  up  to  EUR  32.3  billion)  and  launched  the  European  Fund  for  Sustainable 
Development (EFSD) involving 28 approved budgetary guarantees with total cover of EUR 1.5 billion. 
Through this new instrument, the Commission has developed in-house expertise in the evaluation of 
investment  programme  proposals.  An  important  increase  in  the  use  of  budgetary  guarantees  is 
proposed post-2020 in order to crowd-in greater volumes of private investment to support EU policy 
objectives.  Under  the  EFSD+,  the  Commission  plans  to  engage  with  a  number  of  financial 
institutions, providing budgetary guarantees of EUR 45 billion that could cover up to EUR 500 billion 
of investments in development finance projects. Moreover, the Commission will continue to provide 
blending  contributions  to  partner  financial  institutions,  such  as  technical  assistance  grants, 
investment grants or risk capital. 

In  this  regard,  it  is  worth  noting  that  the  Commission’s  blending  facilities  received  a  promising 
external evaluation in 201612and by the European Court of Auditors, who published a positive report 
on blending in 201413. The evaluation found that blending allowed the EU to engage more broadly 
and  with  strategic  advantage  –  particularly  in  support  of  large  infrastructure  projects  and  for 
cooperating with countries in transition to medium income status. Blending has, in many instances, 
added significant  value  to the  EU’s  grant-based development cooperation and also brought  added 

12Analysis for Economic Decisions (ADE), Bhul-Nielsen et al., Evaluation of Blending, (December 2016) 
https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/evaluation-blending-volume1_en.pdf   
13 European Court of Auditors, The effectiveness of blending regional investment facility grants with financial 
institution loans to support EU external policies, (2014) 
https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR14_16/SR14_16_EN.pdf  

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value to IFIs’ loan operations. In addition, the first evaluation of the EFSD is currently underway in 
line with Article 17 of the EFSD Regulation.14 

The  Commission  is  mobilising  further  resources  to  increase  its  development  finance  know-how, 
notably  with  regard  to  support  for  private  sector  investments,  both  in  headquarters  and  in  EU 
Delegations,  to  ensure  it  fulfils  its  obligation  to  protect  the  Union’s  budget  while  boosting  the 
development impact of EU cooperation funds. In addition, the Commission is increasing its capacity 
and  financing  expertise  by  expanding  staff’s  training  in  development  financing,  project  financial 
management  and  by  further  upgrading  the  skills  of  its  staff  specialised  in  the  legal,  financial  and 
budgetary  specificities  of financial instruments. The Commission will also continue  hosting experts 
seconded from IFIs, who are specialised in the monitoring of the risk parameters of operations. This 
enhanced capacity will help the Commission to better protect the EU budget and better manage the 
foreseen increase in exposures covered by budgetary guarantees post-2020. 

Furthermore,  the  Commission,  in  cooperation  with  IFI/DFI  experts  and  other  partners,  is  in  the 
process  of  developing  dedicated  software  that  would  help  to  model  risks,  under  the  EFSD+ 
guarantee, recognising the specific challenges in developing and transition countries and building on 
data from the Global Emerging Markets Risk Database (GEMs). The software is envisaged to be put 
at the disposal of a reinforced group of risk management professionals who would be seconded to 
the  Commission  (Guarantee  Technical  Assessment  Group  Plus,  GTAG+).  The  provision  of  expert 
advice  on  the  risk  profile  and  guarantee  remuneration  will  enhance  the  Commission’s  capacity  to 
identify  the  portfolios  of  investment  projects  to  be  guaranteed.  Moreover,  an  experienced  risk 
management professional is foreseen to be hired to lead the GTAG+.  

Lastly, training plans for EU Delegations on budgetary guarantees and the use of innovative financial 
instruments have been prepared and are being further enhanced in order to be implemented in line 
with the new financial cycle priorities for 2021-2027. 

Council conclusion 20. EMPHASISES the need of the EU Member States, in cooperation with the 
European Commission, to strengthen existing mechanisms and, where necessary, work towards 
better coordination of EU positions in multilateral development fora and institutions in order to 
speak with a more coherent EU voice. This should also include coordinating positions on issues of 
strategic importance, particularly on the board of the EBRD. 

The European Commission and the HRVP agree that Europe’s influence in multilateral development 
fora and institutions is stronger when the EU speaks with a coherent voice. Joint programming has 
proved effective and it will be enhanced under NDICI, where it is proposed that joint programming 
be the “preferred approach”15.  

14 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/publications/regulation-establishing-european-fund-sustainable-
development-efsd-efsd-guarantee-and-efsd-guarantee-fund_en 
15 Article 10 (1) (b) 

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In  order  to  structure  EU  coordination  on  EU  policy  objectives  and  priorities,  and  to  encourage 
collective discussions that can support the coherence of European positions in the different IFIs and 
multilateral development banks (MDBs), an annual meeting could be proposed with the purpose of 
bringing together the different representatives and stakeholders of:  

  Member States in the IFIs/MDBs’ Boards, i.e. executive directors 
  Relevant ministries from EU Member States (i.e. Foreign Affairs/Development, and Finance) 
 

relevant Commission services / EEAS   

Furthermore,  the  Commission  sees  merit  in  enhancing  the  use  of  the  Council  working  parties  or 
other  committees  as  a  structured  channel  for  Member  States’  coordination  on  strategic  issues 
relevant for multilateral financial organisations. Previous experience with regard to the World Bank 
Group  (WBG),  the  European  Bank  for  Reconstruction  and  Development  (EBRD)  or  the  Asian 
Infrastructure  Investment  Bank  (AIIB),  where  discussions  to  coordinate  positions  took  place  in  the 
Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) and its Sub-Committee on the International Monetary Fund 
(SCIMF), could be expanded. 

EU  Delegations  in  cities  hosting  multilateral  organisations  and  IFIs/MDBs  can  also  play  a  role,  by 
convening regularly coordination meetings with European Executive Directors or other relevant EU 
Member  States’  representatives  so that  European  positions  in  the  Boards  can  be  better  discussed 
and aligned. 

Council conclusion 21. INVITES the European Commission to bring together on a regular basis the 
European development finance and implementing partners to promote harmonisation of 
strategies and approaches in development finance. 

The Commission services, in collaboration with the EEAS, and through EU Delegations, are working 
to promote the harmonisation of strategies and approaches among European development finance 
and implementing partners.  

The  use  of  platforms  such  as  the  EU  Platform  for  Blending  in  External  Cooperation  (EUBEC)16,  the 
Practitioners Network and the Technical Assessment Meetings (TAM) of the blending platforms, all 
serve  as  ways  of  bringing  together  key  international  and  European  DFIs  to  discuss  best  practices, 
evolving  approaches  and  better  coordination,  to  the  benefit  of  the  EU  external  cooperation. 
Relevant  institutions,  such  as  the  WBG,  IMF,  EBRD,  EIB,  African  Development  Bank  (AfDB),  Asian 
Development Bank (ADB), Inter-american Development Bank (IDB), and development agencies from 
EU  Member  States  usually  participate  in  these  meetings,  which  take  place  throughout  the  year  in 
different  locations,  in  addition  to  the  IMF-World  Bank  bi-yearly  meetings.  The  Commission  is  also 
extending the dialogue to new development banks, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank 

16 A Platform of external cooperation experts created in 2011, whose overall objective is  to improve the 
quality and efficiency of EU development and external cooperation blending mechanisms, taking due account 
of the policy frameworks that govern the EU relations with the different partner countries, notably EU 
development, neighbourhood and enlargement policies 

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(AIIB),  New  Development  Bank  (NDB),  Islamic  Development  Bank  (IsDB)  etc.)  to  explore  areas  of 
cooperation and partnership. 

The  Commission  holds  high-level  dialogues  on  a  yearly  basis  with  a  number  of  IFIs,  such  as  IMF, 
AfDB, ADB, IDB and WBG (through the so-called “Deep Dive”). The Commission brought several of 
these high-level partners together on 22 January 2020, on the occasion of the EFSD Strategic Board 
meeting, and is planning to gather these partners again at the upcoming EIP Conference in March. 
The  Commissioner  for  Enlargement  and  Neighbourhood  holds  an  annual  Enhanced  Cooperation 
High-Level  Meeting  with  the  EIB,  EBRD,  IMF,  WB  and  International  Finance  Corporation  (IFC),  a 
member  of  the  WBG).  This  enhanced  cooperation  initiative  started  in  2015  and  has  allowed  the 
participants  to  organise  joint  missions  and  joint  policy  dialogue  activities  with  several  partner 
countries in selected areas of work. 

A Joint Agreement on Enhanced Cooperation and Coordination is another platform available to the 
Commission.  Joint  Agreements  facilitate  senior  management  discussion,  geographical  meetings  at 
operational and strategic levels, as well as thematic and ad hoc  meetings covering diverse sectors, 
such  as  transport  and  digitalisation.  Through  these  conferences  and  outreach  actions,  the 
Commission  is  promoting  collaboration  among  the  EU  and  its  implementing  partners  on  common 
strategic  priorities.  The  Joint  Note  on  Enhanced  Cooperation  and  Coordination,  agreed  in  2018 
between  the  Commission  and  the  EIB,  provides  for  regular  senior  management  discussion, 
geographical  meetings  at  operational  and  strategic  levels,  plus  thematic  and  ad  hoc  meetings 
covering  diverse  sectors,  such  as  transport  and  digitalisation.  The  aim  is  to  reinforce  policy 
coordination with the EIB throughout the project cycle, from identification to implementation.  

At partner country level, European DFIs are regularly invited to take part in  EIP outreach missions 
and in business fora. In 2019, the EIP Taskforce conducted a total of nine outreach missions, which 
were  organised  to  selected  African  and  Neighbourhood  countries  (Cameroon,  Angola,  Tunisia, 
Zambia,  Kenya,  Armenia,  Somalia  (in  Ethiopia),  Senegal,  Sierra  Leone).  Moreover,  for  the  2020 
period,  at  least  seven  outreach  missions  are  envisioned  for  African  and  Neighbourhood  countries 
(Uganda, Rwanda/Burundi, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo/Congo Brazzaville, 
Guinea  Bissau,  Mozambique/Madagascar).  These  outreach  mission  are  undertaken  by  EIP 
development  cooperation  specialists  from  the  Commission  with  expertise 
in  finance  and 
communication,  with  strong  support  from  EU  Delegations  in  the  respective  partner  countries. 
European  DFIs  already  actively  take  part  in  these  EIP  outreach  missions,  which  usually  consist  of 
information  sessions with investors,  the  local  private  sector,  partner  country  government officials, 
and  representatives  from  EU  Member  States  and  other  relevant  donors.  Moreover,  the  European 
Commission is supporting the organisation of important country-specific business fora, gathering key 
private sector, IFIs, investors and government actors. These business fora are important platforms to 
address  challenges  and  opportunities  for  doing  business  and  promoting  local  and  European 
investments in the country, with a high-level participation. 

Furthermore, in regular consultation with EU development and finance  institutions present on the 
ground, EU Delegations organise monthly meetings of economic counsellors in EU Delegations and 
Embassies in partner countries. EU Delegations also play a key role in holding regular workshops on 
investment.  

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The  Commission  will  continue  to  work  towards  improving  and  reinforcing  these  existing  technical 
meetings  and  other  platforms  as  stated  in  the  Commission  Communication  of  2018,  ”Towards  a 
more efficient financial architecture for investment outside the European Union”17. 

Council conclusion 23. INVITES the European Commission and the Member States to create 
incentives to strengthen cooperation among development finance and implementing actors of 
different sizes, profiles, and strengths to maximise development impact, in particular supporting 
inclusive partnerships via smaller development institutions, and making best use of instruments 
such as cooperation arrangements, co-financing, and mutual reliance procedures. INVITES the 
European Commission to develop mechanisms to simplify access to financing to EU development 
actors and institutions, in particular for smaller ones. 

The  future  EFSD+,  through  Article  27  (5)  of  the  NDICI  proposal,  foresees  the  promotion  of 
cooperation  between  eligible  partners.  As  outlined  in  the  September  2018  communication,  the 
Commission  “invites,  as  an  immediate  priority,  the  current  main  financial  and  development 
institutions active in development  financing  –  at the national and European level  –  to  consider  a 
more  collaborative  approach”.  

This could notably include the co-financing of relevant projects by smaller and larger European DFIs. 
The Commission will ensure that a level-playing field is established for all implementing partners. 

The Commission also strongly encourages the submission of proposals by consortia of DFIs including 
at least one small DFI in its composition. As a potentiality, the Commission is exploring the options 
that exist, through the EFSD+  governance boards for example, to dedicate  a limited percentage of 
the  total  amount  of  available  funds  for  proposals  submitted  by  consortia  of  DFIs.  Mechanisms  to 
promote the exchange of information and experience among DFIs could also be envisaged following 
discussions with the DFIs, for example in the context of the EUBEC. 

The  Commission  will  continue  to  build  upon  its  current  efforts  to  strengthen  cooperation  among 
development  finance  actors  through  the  promotion  of  joint  trainings  and  the  development  of 
assistance  facilities.  Moreover,  several  IFIs  and  Member  State  institutions  have  prepared,  or  are 
currently  undergoing,  the  pillar  assessment  process.  The  completion  of  the  pillar  assessment  of 
potential  implementing  partners  is  a  prerequisite  in  order  to  enable  the  channelling  of  future 
budgetary guarantees and blending operations through a greater range of smaller European DFIs. 

The  pillar  assessment  process18  is  composed  of  nine19  different  pillars  and  is  one  of  the  required 
conditions  to  allow  for  the  indirect  management  of  EU  funding  including  within  the  scope  of  the 
EFSD. The systems, rules and procedures of these entities must ensure a level of protection of the 

17 COM(2018) 644 Final  
18 C(2019) 2882 Final, “on establishing new terms of reference  for the pillar assessment methodology to be 
used under Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council” 
19  Terms of Reference for Pillar Assessments available at: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/funding/about-
funding-and-procedures/audit-and-control/pillar-assessments_en 

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EU’s financial interests equivalent to that under direct management in several key areas, such as: the 
provision  of  financing  to  third  parties,  accounting  system  and  independent  external  audit.  The 
Commission is currently looking at ways to facilitate and support the pillar assessment  in order to 
further strengthen inclusiveness. 

Key Area 2: Communication and outreach efforts undertaken and to be implemented by 
Commission services and the EEAS 

Council conclusion 16. INVITES the European Commission and the Member States, with the support 
of the European External Action Service (EEAS), to make proposals for an overall branding and 
narrative for the EU global development strategy and financing and increase the visibility and 
communicability of its impacts for both the EU and partner countries. ENCOURAGES all relevant 
European stakeholders and the Member States to discuss such proposals with the goal to improve 
their communication strategies and activities. 

The  European  Consensus  on  Development,  the  Africa-Europe  Alliance  for  Sustainable  Investment 
and  Jobs,  and  the  European  Neighbourhood  Policy  are  integral  parts  of  the  EU’s  communication 
narrative  and  strategy.  Building  on  these,  Commission  services,  with  the  support  of  the  EEAS,  are 
working towards maximising the  EU’s outreach efforts  through the development  of narratives and 
branding  actions  in  line  with  the  EU  global  development  strategy,  with  the objective  of  increasing 
the EU’s visibility.  

Several  initiatives  are  already  being  implemented  to  communicate  effectively  on  the  EU’s 
cooperation with partner countries. These include campaigns in the EU and in partner countries (in 
2019, 15 business-related events were held, of which eight in EU Member States), and are focused 
on promoting EU values and the impact of the EU’s collective action and worldwide investments. 

In addition, Article 36 of the  proposed NDICI Regulation envisages further measures to strengthen 
communication on EU’s investment and international partnerships by requiring key stakeholders to 
ensure that the recipients of EU funding acknowledge its origin and ensure its visibility by providing 
targeted  information  to  the  media  and  the  public.  While  Article  20  (2)  (c)  provides  for  further 
support measures in relation to communication strategies, corporate communication and visibility of 
the political priorities of the Union, it is imperative that the key actors implementing the EU global 
development  strategy  work  towards  reinforcing  the  EU  narrative  and  branding  efforts.  This  could 
notably include: 

 

coordinating  more  closely  between  EU 
implementing actors to improve joint communication strategies and activities 

institutions,  Member  States,  DFIs  and 

  designing a brand which national and EU-wide development agencies and banks would 
use to label the EU’s development activities, including investment; already in place is the 
“EU4” brand, which is widely used in in the Eastern Partnership countries and replicated 
in number of applications and contexts (i.e. EU4Finance, EU4Energy, etc.) 

  developing specific corporate visuals to inform the public about EU-funded operations 
 

testing new  ways of reaching a wider range of audiences through projects such as the 
Faces2Heart Campaign 

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  developing  targeted  tools  for  specific  target  groups,  such  as  intra-EU  actors,  extra-EU 

stakeholders, and EU fund beneficiaries. 

Key Area 3: Capacity, operationalisation and internal coordination efforts undertaken and 
to be implemented by the European Commission, with the assistance of the EEAS 

Council conclusion 17. EMPHASISES the role of the European Commission and the EEAS in 
operationalising EU development policy, including through better coordination of all European 
development actors, while following the increased political guidance provided by the Council, in 
particular on development objectives. INVITES them to increase their internal coordination as well 
as their cooperation with Member States inter alia in the undertaking of policy dialogue and 
country and regional strategies. 

The  Commission,  with  the  support  of  the  EEAS,  is  increasing  their  efforts  to  upgrade  and 
operationalise  EU  development  policy  through  better  coordination  of  all  European  actors.  It  is 
making  strides  towards  greater  internal  coordination  as  well  as  strengthening  cooperation  with 
Member States, inter alia in the preparation of policy dialogues and country and regional strategies. 
In several countries, close cooperation between the EU Delegations and the Embassies of Member 
States has been established. This cooperation will be further enhanced by instruments such as the 
EIP, which is a key tool in this regard.  

The proposed NDICI Regulation provides for the unification of existing instruments through common 
governance  and  the  ‘policy  first’  approach.  This  will  be  key  in  ensuring  effective  and  cohesive 
internal coordination. In addition, the proposal explicitly calls for the strengthening of coordination 
between the Union and Member States (Article 8 (5)). Of further note is that Articles 8, 10, 11 and 12 
propose  an  inclusive  process,  including  joint  programming  with  Member  States  and  consultation 
with implementing partners, partner countries, civil society organisations and local authorities. 

EU development policy is currently implemented via a wide range of frameworks and mechanisms, 
which  could  be  scaled  up  to  further  enhance  their  effectiveness.  Regional  platforms  such  as  the 
strategic  and  operational  boards  of  the  EU  External  Investment  Plan  and  consultation  formations 
such  as  EUBEC  or  Practitioners’  Network  bring  together  representatives  of  the  Union,  Member 
States, implementing partners and development experts, allowing the EU to draw upon the wealth 
of expertise available, under the political orientation of the Council.  

Moving  forward,  the  Commission  will  continue  to  further  engage  with  stakeholders  under  the 
governance  structure  of  the  EFSD+,  beginning  with  the  programming  of  the  2021-2027  financial 
cycle, which is to be guided primarily by the EU’s policy goals, independent from currently existing 
and  future  tools  and  partners.  Joint  programming  will  become  the  “preferred  option”  under  the 
NDICI, which will contribute to fostering collaboration and coordination in investment financing.  

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Council  conclusion  22.  INVITES  the  European  Commission  and  Member  States  to  strengthen  the 
cooperation between existing European knowledge hubs and research institutes for development, 
linking  more  effectively  EU  and  international  research  on  development  with  policy-making, 
providing  support  for  the  advancement  of  development  studies  and  promoting  learning  on 
reporting  and  development  impact  measurement  within  the  EU.  They  should  also  reflect  on 
working towards the setting up of a common platform with information inter alia on ongoing and 
planned projects, financing conditions as appropriate and their implementing partners in order to 
provide a comprehensive view of EU action, taking into account the existing tools. 

The  Foreign  Affairs  Council’s  Development  Ministerial  meetings  provide  the  political  guidance  on 
development  policy  issues,  including  on  financing  for  investments  in  support  of  development. 
Ministers  have  engaged  regularly  on  these  topics,  most  recently  on  26  November  2019  when  the 
Ministers  invited  the  European  IFIs’  leadership  to  the  Ministerial  meeting.  The  Economic  and 
Financial  Affairs  Council  has  also  played  a  pivotal  role  in  ensuring  that  the  necessary  dialogues 
between key European finance and development actors take place.  

Additionally,  the  meetings  of  the  EU  Directors-General  for  Development  serve  as  platforms  to 
discuss EU development actions. The last meeting took place on 26 November 2019 in Brussels and 
focused on how DFIs can maximise their contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals and on 
the potential opportunities offered by the EIP. 

Platforms containing information on ongoing and planned projects are being developed. Three years 
ago,  the  Commission  created  the  Southern  Mediterranean  Investment  Coordination  Initiative 
(AMICI) to help measuring development impact. The AMICI is a collaborative single entry database 
developed  by  Commission  experts  in  development  and  finance  on  projects  implemented  in  the 
Neighbourhood  region,  and  contains  development  projects  from  the  EU,  Member  States  and  IFIs. 
Through the database, the Commission is able to collect, analyse and filter data from all the different 
projects that were implemented during the last three years.  

Moreover, the EU Aid Explorer serves as a unique tool and one-stop shop for funding information: it 
facilitates donor coordination, ensures transparency and improves accountability to citizens. The EU 
Aid Explorer allows users to find comprehensive aggregate data as well as detailed information on 
international  development  projects  funded  by  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  through  the  use  of 
European  Commission  data  and  open  data  published  by  EU  Member  States  to  the  OECD  Creditor 
Reporting System (CRS) and the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) standard. 

The  Commission  is  considering  using  a  database  for  other  external  actions  and  regions.  The 
Commission is also assessing the  possibility of a ‘centre of excellence’ on development knowledge 
through EU Think Tanks, alongside the possible further involvement of European Think Tank Groups 
on EU international cooperation for global sustainable development.  

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Council conclusion 24. ENCOURAGES the setting of common standards and business models for 
private sector involvement in the implementation of development policy, on the basis of the OECD 
and DFI Blended Finance Principles. 

In its communication on “A Stronger Role of the Private Sector in Achieving Inclusive and Sustainable 
Growth in Developing Countries”20, the Commission put forwards six criteria for supporting private 
sector  actors  as  part  of  its  principles  for  strengthening  the  role  of  the  private  sector  in  EU 
development  cooperation. These criteria also apply to EU blending and guarantee operations, and 
are coherent with the five OECD Blended Finance Principles.21  

In its conclusions on the communication, the Council supported the principles and criteria proposed 
for collaboration with, and support to, the private sector, and invited the Commission and Member 
States to define how to apply them concretely. Accordingly, the Commission further discussed the 
principles and criteria with Members States in the context of the EU Expert Group on Private Sector 
Development and of a meeting of EU Development Directors-General.  

Responsible  business  conduct  is  an  essential  component  of  private  sector  operations  both  in 
European  and  partner  countries.  Over  the  last  years,  the  Commission  has  worked  to  promote 
responsible business conduct and to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human 
Rights, through a mix of voluntary and mandatory actions. In March 2019, the Commission published 
a  staff  working  document  giving  an  overview  of  progress  on  corporate  social  responsibility, 
responsible business conduct and business and human rights.22   

The Commission has also followed the work of DFI Working Group on Blended Concessional Finance 
Principles for Private Sector Projects.23 They are currently in use in the implementation of blending, 
including  as  regards  the  principle  of  minimum  concessionality,  which 
implies  that  donor 
contributions should amount to the minimum necessary in order to render the project in question 
economically and financially viable.  

The Commission has integrated the above principles and criteria into its blending guidelines, which it 
will further update in the course of 2020. 

20 COM(2014) 263 Final 
21 http://www.oecd.org/development/financing-sustainable-development/blended-finance-principles/  
22 SWD(2019) 143 Final 
23 DFI Working Group on Blended Concessional Finance for Private Sector Projects - Joint Report, October 2018 
Update, https://www.edfi.eu/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/DFI-Blended-Finance-Report-OCT-2018.pdf 

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Conclusion 

The Commission welcomes the timely guidance of the Council and will continue working with it in 
order to achieve the EU’s priorities and objectives in relation to the future financial architecture for 
development.    It  is  also  ready  to  take  further  steps  to  improve  the  coordination  and  cooperation 
among actors involved in implementing the EU’s development policy. In that regard, future actions 
developed by the Commission will take into account the mandates of the relevant Commissioners in 
order to propose a new comprehensive coordination mechanism with the aim of ensuring that the 
EU,  its  Member  States  and  the  IFIs  they  hold  shares  in,  collectively  use  their  sizeable  financial 
assistance capacity in a coherent way which promotes the EU’s values and strategic objectives.  

As  detailed  throughout  this  report,  the  Commission  services,  with  the  support  of  the  EEAS,24  are 
working  towards  implementing  the  WPG  recommendations  and  Council  conclusions.  A  number  of 
measures  to  simplify,  streamline  and  considerably  enhance  the  financing  architecture  for 
development  are  pending  the  approval  of  the  proposed  NDICI  Regulation,  while  many  others  are 
already under implementation. The Commission also looks forward to the inputs that the Council has 
requested  from  the  EIB  and  the  EBRD,  in  particular  their  respective  proposals  to  increase 
cooperation between the two institutions and with European and other DFIs. Further measures are 
to be taken to explore other areas as suggested by the WPG and the Council. 

Lastly,  the  Commission supports  the  Council’s  conclusion  encouraging Member  States  to  reinforce 
their ownership of the EU development policy through a stronger engagement, regular policy steer, 
further strategic guidance, as well as more effective interaction and coordination with the European 
Commission and the HRVP. The Commission defends this approach, which is in line with the Global 
Strategy on EU Foreign and Security Policy’s call for a more responsive and joined-up Union, and the 
European  Consensus  on  Development  –  the  EU’s  shared  vision  for  development  cooperation  and 
with the framework agreed through the 2030 Agenda and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for both 
the EU and its Member States. 

24 As per Article 2(2) of Council decision 2010/427 

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