Ideas to Action:
Independent research for global prosperity
Amid the news that France is legislating a target to give 0.7 percent of GNI as official development assistance, Ranil Dissanayake takes a deep look at what this means in practice.
It’s been almost a year and a half since the High-Level Group of Wise Persons published its report, setting out options for consolidating and streamlining the European development finance architecture. That report generated a sparring match between the two European development banks—the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) —as to which was better placed to become the new European Climate and Sustainable Development Bank (ECSDB)
On 17th March, the Dutch will make their way to the polls to elect a new government. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte remains largely popular at home for his management of the pandemic through an “intelligent lockdown” and seems to be heading towards a fourth term.
2020 was a challenging year for Jutta Urpilainen, the European Commissioner for International Partnerships. In this blog, we look back at the EU’s international development performance and assess the extent to which it has lived up to the EU’s pledge to be a reliable international partner.
The current state of migration cooperation between Africa and Europe is far from this ideal. True partnerships should focus on promoting economic opportunity in countries of origin and expanding legal pathways, both from Africa to Europe and within the continent. Currently, African governments are left responding to Europe’s short-term thinking without collaboration towards long-term mutual gain—a scenario that undermines the potential for joint initiatives that can benefit both Africa and the EU.
In 2015, large numbers of refugees fleeing war and terrorism in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq arrived on Europe’s shores. Fear and uncertainty reigned—who would give these people asylum and how would they integrate? The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, remained undaunted. “We can do this!” she announced in August of that year. And do this, they did. In 2015 and 2016, Germany received over one million first-time asylum applications.
This blog sets out the EU’s position as an international creditor and offer thoughts for what role the EU could play in debt relief.
If further cuts are to come from the ODA budget, how should they be selected and managed? And is there a way to rescue those things of greatest value in the portfolio? In a new note, I argue that there is—and that such a process can improve the quality of ODA spending in perpetuity.
This is the second of three blogs written by the Center for Global Development focused on the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum. The first focused on why both returns and legal pathways are needed to effectively manage migration. This blog focuses on how to operationalize Talent Partnerships. And the third will focus on how to create a true partnership of equals with African countries of origin.
On September 23, the European Commission announced their New Pact on Migration and Asylum, “proposing a fresh start on migration: building confidence through more effective procedures and striking a new balance between responsibility and solidarity.” This focus on strengthening returns and border security is important. But Europe must do more to open up new legal pathways for migration.
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