The joint declaration signed today is the first pillar of the European finance platform, which aims at improving aid effectiveness and leverage on collective resources to deliver on the SDGs, drawing on the strengths and diversity of all its actors
ROME, ITALY; October 20th 2021 – Spanish Agency AECID, France public AFD, Italian Financial Institution CDP and Germany’s state-owned KfW signed today the Joint Declaration on a European Strategic Cooperation Framework. This signature echoes the new European multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027, and particularly the new Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) - Global Europe.
AECID, AFD, CDP and KFW share the vision of a truly joined-up European development finance system with an efficient and comprehensive architecture. This partnership draws on the strengths and diversity of all its actors and “delivers as one” for an increased impact towards the SDGs.
Following the Summit on the Financing of African Economies in Paris, these four Institutions are setting up an innovative finance platform to support a more efficient and comprehensive European financial architecture for development along two main pillars:
i) A Joint Declaration on a European Strategic Cooperation Framework as signed today, ruling the relationships between the existing members and those which could join the initiative; ii) A Co-financing Agreement, framing common technical and financial operations, to be signed in 2022, serving as legal basis for future co-financings.
Today these Institutions established the first pillar of this European finance platform by signing the JOINT DECLARATION ON A EUROPEAN STRATEGIC COOPERATION FRAMEWORK (JD). It embodies a commitment for a stronger cooperation at strategic and institutional levels to increase knowledge sharing, identify common priorities and enhance European coordination. In line with the “Working better together” 1 and “Team Europe” 2 approach promoted by the European Commission and its Member States. The four Institutions have decided to strengthen their existing cooperation by pooling respective resources for increased impacts; better voicing their positions based on their strengths and expertise and thus facilitating synergies; contributing to improve the visibility of EU development cooperation.
The Institutions have agreed on three key principles for this renewed partnership:
(i) Team Europe approach and shared strategic vision: the Institutions support the “Team Europe approach”, a concept born in April 2020 as the EU's global response to the Covid-19 pandemic and incorporated into the European external action policies, in order to improve the coherence and coordination of efforts between the different European actors involved in external action. The Team Europe approach should ensure the pooling of the resources of the EU actors of international cooperation in a coordinated and coherent way, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and also to help strengthen the voice of European development finance actors.
ii) Mutual trust, transparency and visibility: the Institutions have identified common priority areas and countries for their cooperation within the NDICI framework. They endeavor to exchange information on project pipelines to contribute to greater European visibility in cooperation and coordination with the EU.
iii) Pragmatism and best efforts: the Institutions wish to make their best effort to promote a strong and pragmatic European partnership.
To achieve these objectives, the four Institutions work on common projects to be implemented starting 2022 through the second pillar, the Co-financing Agreement. The partners prioritize so far Sub-Saharan Africa, as major geographic focus, and several sectors as energy (including renewable) or mobility.
_________ 1The concept of working better together emphasizes the opportunity for increased influence and impact by means of systematic and strategic collaboration between development actors. 2 Team Europe consists of the European Union, the EU Member States — including their implementing agencies and public development banks —, as well as the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).