Commission staff working document
Organisational Mechanisms
Download 0.93 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- 2.1.General commitment to Policy Coherence for Development
- 2.2.PCD Promotion in EU Member States
- 2.2.2.Administrative coordination and institutional mechanisms with a specific mandate to promote PCD
- 2.2.3.Analysis, reporting and awareness raising
- 2.2.4.Conclusion on the situation in Member States
2.Organisational MechanismsBrining about greater coherence between policies and development objectives is a complex endeavour. To succeed in this task governments need certain structures and mechanisms. The precise nature and interplay of these varies depending on the different political systems. But broadly speaking there are three key building blocks 1) a general – preferably legal - commitment to PCD, and a political framework outlining the approach to PCD, 2) institutional mechanisms, with a specific mandate to promote PCD and 3) a reporting obligation. The OECD pictures them together in the policy coherence cycle6: 
2.1.General commitment to Policy Coherence for DevelopmentEU commitment to PCD is founded as regards the legal base on article 178 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in a more general way on article 3, second subparagraph, of the Treaty on European Union as regards consistency between all the Union's policies and its external activities. The Treaty of Lisbon would give a solid legal base to Policy Coherence for Development with two articles of particular importance. Firstly, article 21(2)(d) and (3) of the Treaty on European Union in the chapter on the general provisions on the Union's external action which sets out sustainable development and the eradication of poverty as objectives of the Union's external action. Importantly, this article also stipulates that the EU shall pursue this objective in the development and implementation of the different areas of the Union's external action and of the external aspects of its other policies. Secondly, article 208(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union would be the new version of the 178 coherence article with almost identical wording. The political framework has been set by the Commission's Communication on Policy Coherence for Development in April 20057, the subsequent Council Conclusions in May 20058, the European Consensus on Development in December 20059, as well as in the Council Conclusions on the EU PCD report in November 200710. PCD commitments in specific areas were made in particular with the Council conclusions on security and development and the Conclusion on migration both of them adopted in November 2007, as well as the Council Conclusions of May 2008 on Climate Change/Energy/Biofuels, Migration and Research. 2.2.PCD Promotion in EU Member States2.2.1.General commitment, capacity and approach to PCDA growing number of Member States have officially committed themselves to PCD (see chart below11). The Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Romania have adopted legislation putting a specific emphasis on PCD. Austria, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Sweden (re)confirmed their commitment to PCD in long term government policies and/or coalition programmes. The Irish Government’ Programme ‘A Blueprint for Ireland’s Future’, for example, commits the government to an integrated approach to development across all departments. Some new, small donors envisage specific changes in policy commitment to PCD in the near future. 
Sweden and Austria have identified focus areas for their PCD work: Sweden specified six global challenges as priorities for ensuring PCD: oppression, economic exclusion, climate change and environmental impact, migration flows, communicable diseases and other health threats, and conflicts and fragile situations (see box below). Austria is focusing its PCD efforts on three themes: Environment and Development, Food Security, and Education and Science. Sweden: Six Global Challenges: A PCD Focusing Methodology. Prior to 2007, Sweden attempted a whole-of-government approach to PCD but this provided to be ineffective as the policies of individual government offices were not always coherent with each other. The problems overall stemmed from a lack of policy ownership, a poor understanding of PCD means in practice, and the absence of a guiding strategy for implementation of PCD policies.12 Sweden embarked on a new approach in 2007 whereby PCD efforts are focused on selected global challenges. It announced this new approach to Parliament on 17 March 2008, in a communication entitled Sweden’s Policy for Global Development (Govt Comm. 2007/8:89). The six challenges selected are: Oppression, Economic exclusion, Climate change and environmental impact, Migration flows, Infectious diseases and other health threats, and Conflicts and fragile situations. They have been further subdivided into 18 cases, each with clear objectives and policy implementation targets along with a selection of measures that are seen as necessary to fulfil each objective. Each government office is responsible for developing the necessary policies and management processes for meeting the objectives. A global development policy forum has been established within government offices for increasing coordination and coherence. All policies that have an impact on global development are subject to an impact assessment that evaluates the policy according to a “rights perspective and the perspective of poor people on development”. Also, cooperation with non-state actors is promoted by the “actor-driven cooperation” approach, which focuses on developing self-sustaining relationships between Swedish and developing country actors. The first performance evaluation of Sweden’s new PCD approach will be conducted in 2010. 2.2.2.Administrative coordination and institutional mechanisms with a specific mandate to promote PCDA number of Member States are enhancing their capacity to ensure PCD. Seven Member States took specific steps to enhance PCD capacity across government. The UK expanded the role of DFID and increased the number of inter-departmental units in areas such as trade and climate change (see box). The Netherlands intensified its focus on inter-ministerial agreements on development policy. France created a new Directorate General for Globalisation, Development and Partnerships, with a unit focusing on aid effectiveness and policy coherence. UK, Making it Happen: April 2008 an internal management and delivery initiative In April 2008, an internal management and delivery initiative (Making it Happen) helped to broaden the agenda of UK development policies to include areas that were previously outside of the development sector. The move towards increasing PCD capacity began in July 2007 with the doubling in size of the ministerial team for international development. 13 One of the major components of the government’s PCD effort is the establishment of a joint DFID – Department of Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform Trade Policy Unit (TPU) in November 2007.2 This new unit places the responsibility for overseeing trade policy jointly on the two ministries, and a new Cabinet Committee was created to increase coherence. Furthermore, a Justice Assistance Network was created in May 2007, as a joint effort by DFID, the Attorney General, and the FCO, to ensure that UK justice assistance is coherent and effective. 1 Also, in 2007, Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs started taking steps to ensure that taxation treaties are in line with the UK’s development objectives.1 DFID, the FCO, and HMT have also worked jointly to develop the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.2 The increased coordination between ministries dealing with trade, migration, and financial matters is necessary to make the UK’s development cooperation and policy coherence more effective. About 75% of Member States have improved their institutional decision-making processes to ensure PCD. A large majority of the Member States now have well-established inter-ministerial or interdepartmental committees, units or task forces specifically mandated to ensure PCD. Romania, for example, created the Inter-ministerial Commission for Economic Cooperation and International Development in July 2007. A number of Member States prefer more informal working groups or networks. Finland and Portugal strengthened their role of the PCD Coordinator. Hungary and Portugal established PCD focal points within non-development ministries. The UK established a Cabinet Committee on Trade, chaired by DFID’s Secretary of State. As Finland and Spain had done before 2007, Austria, Czech Republic and Latvia have also now established independent national advisory bodies to advise the government on PCD issues. These generally consist of representatives from development and non-development ministries, independent experts - from the private sector, NGOs, research - and, in the case of Latvia, representatives of municipalities as well.
Since the beginning of 2008, the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) has made available up to €120 million, creditable against ODA, for International Climate Protection. The goal is to contribute to reducing emissions in a cost-effective way through increased energy efficiency and greater use of renewable energies in developing countries as well as to promote adaptation to climate change in those countries. In order to ensure coherence with development policy, the Federal Ministry of Finance issued a guidance note stipulating approval of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) must approve all decisions related to the programme’s financing. In accordance with increased thematic focus, Sweden has set up new interdepartmental working groups for each of the six global challenges and the UK has established thematic PCD Units on Trade Policy; Returns and Reintegration (on Migration), Energy and Climate Change (at the High Commission in Delhi) and Stabilisation. Sweden and the UK have introduced results-based management principles for designing and managing action agendas for ensuring PCD in thematic areas. Unsurprisingly capacities in national administrations still vary between Member States. For some countries, PCD is not a first priority and awareness of the need for it in non-development ministries remains low. It is noticeable that in Member States that have a strong policy commitment to PCD, non-development ministries reportedly understand its implications better too. 2.2.3.Analysis, reporting and awareness raisingBetter use of impact assessment as well as more intensive exchanges with the European Parliament and a broader range of civil society actors was identified as an outstanding issue in the 2007 PCD report. Recognising the importance of clear evidence for enhancing PCD as well as the need to involve the public, Member States made more use of impact assessments, strengthened their reporting mechanisms and engaged in a broader dialogue with parliaments and civil society actors. Seven Member States use impact assessments systematically to support effective action on PCD. The Netherlands focuses in particular on decision-making around EPAs. Sweden is developing measures to do impact assessment at an early stage in the PCD decision-making process. The UK focuses its assessments mostly on the impact of insecurity, climate change and economic growth. Germany and Ireland make use of impact assessments by the European Commission and others. Germany underlines the particular usefulness of Trade Sustainability Impact Assessments. Poland has created a special post on Impact Assessment within the Department of International Cooperation. Romania and Lithuania expect to make more use of impact assessments in the near future. Reporting on PCD is more and more integrated into general reporting on development policy. In their regular reports to Government, Swedish embassies and field offices provide feedback on PCD in partner countries based on individual country assistance strategies. The UK’s International Development (Reporting and Transparency) Act requires the Secretary of State for International Development to report to Parliament each year, including on a range of PCD areas. In Germany, PCD reporting is included in the overall report which the Federal Government presents to parliament once every election period. The most recent was the ‘White Paper on Development Policy’ issued in June 2008. In Ireland, the same month, Ireland's Interdepartmental Committee on Development presented its first Annual Report to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.. Amongst the newer European donors, progress reports frequently refer to advances made in more general ODA reporting. The Netherlands undertakes regular external evaluations of the work of its Policy Coherence for Development Unit. These evaluations assess the relevance, added value and results of the Unit's three primary: PCD screening of Dutch positions in the European Union; pro-active networking and lobbying with other directorates and relevant ministries to define and achieve specific results on a limited number of current PCD issues; and strengthening EU and wider international cooperation on PCD. Very few Member States report on studies analysing the root causes of PCD or the lack of it. Irish Aid commissioned research on PCD that involved comprehensive scoping of coherence issues across Government Departments. The resulting report, soon to be published, is expected to identify key policy coherence issues and suggest which of these should be most urgently addressed by the Irish Government. The UK on the other hand, reports that the interplay between climate change, livelihoods and conflict in Darfur has led to a number of pioneering projects in the region based on in-depth analyses conducted by different research groups, which aim to address the underlying environmental causes of conflict, providing a long-term sustainable basis for growth in the context of pressing and immediate humanitarian needs. Awareness and transparency of PCD issues are increasing considerably in Member Sates. Most Parliaments are engaging much more actively on PCD issues. The UK House of Commons organised sessions on Sustainable Development in a Changing Climate, DFID and China, World Food Programme and Global Food Security, Scrutiny of Arms Export Control, Development and Trade and Cross-departmental Working and Afghanistan Reconstruction in 2008/9. Members of Parliament in many Member States repeatedly spent a lot of time discussing the findings of civil society organisations and research institutions with expertise in PCD. Most Member States have made a big effort to raise stakeholders' awareness of PCD, to increase accountability and transparency on PCD and to engage the public at large. Poland for example reports a steady intensification of the dialogue with civil society organisations. It held several seminars and events and has created a special web page designed to make knowledge and information on PCD and the risks of non-compliance more widely available. In the Netherlands, intensive dialogues with a wide range of stakeholders were conducted on PCD-related topics during the formulation of the Government Agenda 2015. PCD was a key topic at a major public Africa Conference in Rotterdam in 2008, while in 2007 public presentations of the CDI Index were given. The UK continued to fund the Centre for Global Development’s Commitment to Development Index (CDI) as part of their efforts to raise awareness within governments and among the general public of the many ways that donor governments affect developing countries.
Directory: pub -> ECD ECD -> Table of contents I instruments Error: Reference source not found ECD -> Table of annexes annex I: Glossary 4 ECD -> En commission of the european communities brussels, 12. 12. 2008 com(2008) 853 final annex annex II to VIII ECD -> Report from the commission to the european parliament and the council european community safa programme aggregated information report ECD -> Report from the commission european community safa programme ECD -> Commission staff working document ECD -> Commission of the european communities brussels, 24 2008 ECD -> Commission staff working document ECD -> Communication from the commission to the european parliament, the council, the european economic and social committee and the committee of the regions ECD -> Annex I iccat species Download 0.93 Mb. Share with your friends:
|
