IP/06/517
Brussels, 21 April 2006
EU Commissioner Louis Michel to promote greater coordination between donors at the World Bank and IMF spring meetings The Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, will meet with Finance and Development Ministers from around the world at the Development Committee of the World Bank and IMF on 23rd April. He will stress the importance of donors working together in order to realise the aid promises made in 2005.
This year’s Spring meetings will focus on good governance, debt relief and clean energy. On Saturday, Louis Michel will meet with the President of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, to further the strong relationship between the World Bank and the Commission, which already works closely together at both headquarters and field level (see MEMO/06/168).
On Sunday morning he will attend the Development Committee on behalf of the Commission as an observer.
In the next years, the EU will be providing 80% of the additional aid promised by the international donor’s community. Because the beneficiary countries have limited resources to deal with many different donors and their regulations, their ability to absorb this aid strongly depends on the coordination and convergence on the donors side.
The Development Committee is one of the most important global fora on development issues, and the Commissioner’s messages will reach a wide audience with the potential to bring about a real shift in the way donors work together throughout the world. Louis Michel will emphasise the particular importance of promoting good governance, as key to development. Working together should also imply ensuring any conditions concerning good governance are discussed between donors and partner countries on the ground.
The Commissioner will also focus on how to provide aid which is both flexible and predictable. By providing budgetary aid, countries have the necessary flexibility to meet the varied needs of their poorest people. Budget support is currently the most volatile type of aid because of its annual conditionalities. The Commission plans to redress this by working with other donors from round the world.
