Briefing: Global Meeting of the Policy Forum on Development

GNDR and our member, ENDA Energie, had the opportunity to participate in June’s Global Meeting of the Policy Development Forum (PFD) in Brussels. The forum came at a crucial time with cuts in development cooperation increasing in Europe, following the US government’s abrupt decision to end USAID.

The European Union’s (EU) external position and policies for international cooperation are undergoing a paradigm shift. Following reprioritisation highlighted in President von der Leyen’s Political Guidelines, the EU’s economic interests are now tied to international cooperation and its foreign policy. Indeed, the Global Gateway strategy features a greater role for Member States (through the Team Europe approach) and for financing institutions (European Investment Bank), which are being called upon to respond to growing funding gaps and the mounting needs of other countries.

The agenda focused on several key issues, such as the role of the EU in promoting safe and enabling spaces for the development of an organised civil society to contribute to development. It also featured a discussion on how to advance engagement in complex contexts and fragile states, as well as how to address forced displacement. In addition, participants analysed the impact of Global Gateway on human development policy and locally-led development. Finally, discussions focused on the upcoming EU budget and the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

One of the highlights was the visit of Koen Doens, Director General of DG International Partnerships (INTPA), who highlighted the EU’s investment agenda in the five pillars of the Global Gateway for economic development. While mentioning the effort that is planned to provide basic services in the most fragile or inequitable contexts, he emphasised the relevance of infrastructure investments for development, focusing more sharply on economic development, rather than on human development.

In short, the EU’s policy can be summed up as a shift towards ‘productive investment, leveraging private sector investment’ and thus ‘increasing investment’ is needed. GNDR, and from other networks and alliances in the sector, take this change of direction with caution and scepticism.

In any case, we had very rich discussions on the “shrinking civic space” process and the commitment of the European Union to base its funding on the principles of respect for fundamental freedoms and the need for regulatory frameworks that guarantee those freedoms. The lack of progress on the localisation agenda was also addressed, where GNDR insisted on the need to promote locally-led and risk-informed development.

The forum ended with the analysis of the MFF, which discussed the political landscape in Europe and its implications for Official Development Assistance (ODA), as many countries in the region are experiencing significant budget cuts, driven by nationalist rhetoric and immigration-centred narratives that politicise development aid.

The CSOs made, and still make, a call to shift ODA governance to a more inclusive UN-based system; and a greater transparency, depolitisation, and focus on poverty and inequality reduction.