MCC released its annual Report on the Criteria and Methodology for Determining the Eligibility of Candidate Countries, starting the legislatively-mandated 60-day clock until the Board meeting. This notice serves to announce any changes in the performance indicators used to determine country eligibility in annual selection process. The 30-day required public comment period is also now open until November 6th should you feel inclined to offer any opinion.This year’s report is notable for one big reason: it “recommends no changes to the selection criteria and methodology for this fiscal year.” That said, it does put forward several issues that will likely face a new Administration next year, including:
• Education quality indicator: MCC states that none exists that is rigorous enough yet, but that a coalition of groups are working to develop one which could be included in the future
• Compacts coming to an end: MCC will consider modifying the criteria for countries in consideration for a second compact at a later date
• Compact countries who fail the indicators test: MCC has elected not to change any standards for countries with signed compacts that repeatedly fail the indicators test. “Significant policy reversal” remains the hallmark for consideration of “suspension or termination of eligibility and/or assistance”. We’ve argued that a “three strikes and you’re out” policy should be implemented to preserve the integrity of the MCC model. Keep your eyes out, however, on how the MCC deals this year with “reselection” of these countries. To date, countries have been reselected each year (even if they fail the indicators). We suspect that this year that process will end and countries with compacts that fail will simply not be raised at all in the selection announcement.
The decision to recommend no changes is smart given the current budget situation and the fact that it’s an Administration transition year. It keeps the MCC focused on implementing the current 18 compacts and working with the 10 eligible countries in various stages of compact development.It remains to be seen how the Board will take the budget and scorecard results into account; but in the meantime look for our continued analysis of the 6th selection round. Forthcoming is analysis of all the FY09 indicators as well as our picks for Compact Eligible Country Selection.
