European Commission aid - Top 10 statistics

9 May 2008
 

On Europe Day 2008, here are 10 top statistics about the European Commission (EC) and aid:

• The EC was the world's second largest distributor of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA)to developing countries in 2006, behind the US.
• In 2006/07, 21% of DFID's expenditure went through the EC. Of the total £964 million, £238 million went through the European Development Fund (EDF) and £721 million into the EC Budget.
• EC aid is spent through two channels – the EC budget and the EDF.
• In 2006, the EC committed €11.8 billion (£8.1 billion) to aid (78% ODA, 22% Official Aid (OA)). This was an increase of 8% in ODA since 2005.
• In 2006, the largest recipient of EC ODA was Turkey, followed by Morocco, Serbia, Sudan AND the Palestinian Administrative Areas. By region, Sub-Saharan Africa received the highest funds.
• The current share of allocated EC ODA going to low-income countries (LICs) (the ‘poverty/low-income focus’) is 56%, and around 90% for the EDF. This compares to a Development Assistance Committee (DAC) average of 66%, and a DFID Public Service Agreement (PSA) target for EC ODA of 70% by 2008.
• By sector, in 2006, social infrastructures, which includes education and health, accounted for the largest share (40%) of EC ODA commitments. In 2005, the largest share went to emergency assistance due to the Asian Tsunami and Pakistan earthquake.
• In 2006, the UK contributed 17.2% to the total EC budget. The UK share of the ninth EDF is 12.69%.
• The total amount for external assistance spent via the EC budget has been set a limit of €50.01 billion (£34.25 billion) over 2007-2013, as part of the overall EC Financial Perspectives agreement. The breakdown of this amount into various instruments means DFID's PSA target of 70% of EC Aid going to LICs will not be met until 2014 at the earliest.
• The next replenishment of the EDF (EDF10) has been agreed - €22.68 billion (£15.53 billion) over the period 2008-2013. The UK share of EDF10 will be 14.82%.