The Court of Auditors publishes a special report

The Court of Auditors has published a report looking at the European Commission’s management of so-called Non-State Actors’ (NSA) involvement in EC development cooperation. The report looks at whether the EC makes sure that NSAs are effectively involved in development cooperation; has efficient management systems to ensure NSA activities are relevant and likely to produce the intended results; and allows for the adequate capacity development of NSAs.

The court found that the involvement of NSAs is limited and does not live up to the sustained and structured dialogue foreseen by EU law and EC guidelines. It also found that although EC management systems in place generally do ensure that NSA activities are relevant and likely to produce the intended result, there are a number of problems. The calls for proposals do not always ensure timely completion of project design; there is insufficient guidance for NSAs on application of financial rules; there are inconsistencies in interpretation and application of procedures; there is insufficient monitoring; and prospects for sustainability are poor partly because of short project duration.

In terms of capacity development, the court found that programmes are developed and included in ACP (African, Caribbean, Pacific) strategies but there is significant disparity between this and the approach in Asian and Latin American countries where strategies have not been developed. Programmes were found to be relevant but did not reach their full potential because of delays from management procedures, resulting in less effectiveness and sustainability. Programmes are also faced with the contradiction of supporting the capacity development of NSAs in most need through calls for proposals that are designed to select the best-performing NSAs.

The court sets out a number of recommendations in the report for the EC, suggesting that it strengthen and provide more guidance on its procedure for involving NSAs in the DC process; continue improving the calls for proposals procedure; enhance the targeting of monitoring and support by delegations; ensure guidance for delegation and NSA staff on performance indicators; consider using a mix of instruments rather than just projects to improve sustainability; develop a capacity development strategy for NSAs in Asia and Latin America; and examine additional ways of delivering capacity development policy aims such as partnership agreements, multi-donor funding, and cascading grants to better reach grass-roots organisations.

The full report is available in several languages from the Court of auditors website http://eca.europa.eu/.
The English version of the report can be accessed here: http://eca.europa.eu/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/2554293.PDF

Information provided by Rebecca Steel, TRIALOG