2016 discharge: 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th European Development Funds (EDFs)

PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Commission in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Development Funds for the financial year 2016.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2018/1337 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh European Development Funds for the financial year 2016.

CONTENT: the European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Commission in respect of the implementation of the budget of the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh European Development Funds for the financial year 2016.

This decision is accompanied by a resolution of the European Parliament containing the observations which form an integral part of the discharge decision in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016 (please refer to the summary dated 18.4.2018).

In this resolution, Parliament expressed its concern about the Court’s assessment of the legality and regularity of payments underlying the accounts which are materially affected by error, particularly in the field of public procurement. It called on the Commission to correct the shortcomings identified in contract management, selection procedures, document management and procurement as a matter of urgency.

Parliament insisted on:

• the principles of sustainability, policy coherence and effectiveness for the Union to develop a new and cross-cutting Union development approach in view of enhancing the positive impact of its development aid and deliverables;
• transparency and accountability are prerequisites for both democratic scrutiny and the consistency of Union development action with the objectives of other actors such as Member States, international organisations, international financial institutions or multilateral development banks;
• effective coordination to limit the risk of aid fragmentation and maximising impact coherence and partners’ ownership of development priorities.

Parliament noted that budget support carries a significant fiduciary risk and should only be granted if it is accompanied by sufficient transparency, traceability and accountability and a clear commitment on the part of partner countries to reform policy. Control mechanisms for the conduct of beneficiaries in the areas of corruption, respect for human rights, the rule of law and democracy should be improved.

Parliament recognised the necessity to develop new patterns for designing development assistance instruments and related conditionalities, in line with the commitments of the Sustainable Development Goals and the new European Consensus on Development, in order to respond to new critical features such as the development and humanitarian nexus, the development, migration and mobility nexus, the climate change nexus and the peace and security nexus.

Investing in fragile countries remains a key priority of Union intervention, while maintaining a sober monitoring approach could lead, when required, to the cessation of financing; believes that the practice of outcome ratings and their sharing in relation to fragile or conflict countries must be strengthened.

With regard to the link between development and migration, Parliament called on the Commission to report in a structured manner on the impact of the programmes launched under the Africa trust fund, particularly on the basis of Union result-oriented monitoring and the Africa trust fund results framework to highlight the collective achievements. It urged the Commission to honour its commitments under the Paris Agreement and to make EU funding conditional on compliance with stricter climate conditions.

Parliament reiterated its call for the integration of the EDFs into the Union's general budget.