DG Enlargement

1
Concluding Remarks of the Co-chairs
DG Enlargement Effective Support for
Enlargement Conference, Brussels 19 October 2009
2

Concluding Remarks

• Effective Financial Assistance for Reforms, IPA
  Priorities, Planning and Programming
• Need to ensure strong link between enlargement
  policy priorities and the use of financial
  assistance, particularly IPA
• Strengthened by
• Designing programming to achieve concrete and
  measurable results
• Focusing on European Partnership priorities, in
  line with country strategies
• Priority on achievement of results over financial
  considerations
• Ensured through evaluations

3

Concluding Remarks

• Effective Financial Assistance for Reforms, IPA
  Priorities, Planning and Programming
• Supported by
• Strengthening local dialogue
• Donor coordination
• Appropriate conditionality
• Use of priorities as defined in the annual
  progress reports

4

Concluding Remarks

• Adequate Capacity for Absorbing Financial
  Assistance
• Political will for reform vital
• Beneficiary countries encouraged to show
  increased ownership in particular by concrete
  political and financial commitments
• Donor community to support the efforts of the
  beneficiary countries to establish decentralised
  management structures
• Beneficiary countries need to ensure stability in
  staffing and budgets of key public departments
  and institutions
• More effective use of financial assistance
  fundamental to mitigate effects of the economic
  crisis and improve regional cooperation. IFIs
  will contribute with their available instruments
  in this process.

5

Concluding Remarks

• Linking EU Objectives and Country Sector
  Strategies in Programming of Assistance and
  Coordination with Donors
• Still work to be done to fulfil the conclusions
  of the Tirana conference
• Development of sector strategies
• Enhanced donor coordination at sector level
• Securing high level political will in the
  beneficiary countries
• Important to secure high level endorsement for
  the commitment to coordinate on the ground in
  agreed sectors
• Responsibility of all donors to ensure that their
  programme is in line with national priorities,
  common policies and the combined donor efforts.

6

Concluding Remarks

• Linking EU Objectives and Country Sector
  Strategies in Programming of Assistance and
  Coordination with Donors
• What next?
• Interest has been expressed to organise workshops
  in March/April 2010 with all stakeholders with
  the aim of
• sharing best practices on sector wide approaches
• developing working methods for sector
  coordination and donor lead
• defining benchmarks for reviewing progress on aid
  effectiveness.
• Progress will be reported at the next conference
  in autumn 2010.

7

Concluding Remarks

• Adapting Financial Instruments to Current
  Challenges
• Countries severely hit by economic consequences
  of financial crisis
• Continuous support of IFIs particularly important
  in current financial climate
• Important that all actors have the same policy
  foundation for their interventions and strive
  towards the same goal
• Western Balkans Investment Framework to promote
  policy coherence among the IFIs, the Commission
  and bilateral donors, and help make larger
  amounts of funds available for the countries.