Annual Highlights 2009-2010 – A snapshot of our work

The year 2009 opened on a note of expectation and even suspense as the world waited for the first signs of global economic recovery, an end to the financial crisis and a global agreement to combat climate change. 

In Europe, ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and nomination of the first EU President raised hopes that a stronger EU governance architecture would usher in more coherent and effective external relations.

With the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty imminent, ECDPM invested considerable energy in latter 2009 in analysing the development policy implications of EU institutional reform for the ACP and facilitating dialogue on the way forward. ECDPM continued to contribute to broad public debate on its likely impact drawing attention to the need for greater policy coherence for development (PCD) across all areas of EU external action.

In addition to its role in informing about the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (www.europafrica.net), ECDPM has, over the years, provided timely and independent analysis of the JAES for both African and EU actors. Stakeholders on both sides welcomed this input as they prepared to negotiate the second JAES action plan in 2009. 

In a bid to help address the growing rift between the European Commission and ACP countries regarding the Economic Partnership Agreements, ECDPM published Contentious Issues in the Interim EPAs: Potential Flexibility in the Negotiations. This paper provides an accessible and non-partisan overview of some of the main technical outcomes and issues in the debate. 

ECDPM’s Governance team helped to persuade strategic partners in Europe and the ACP to take a more critical and analytical stance in their approaches to governance. The backdrop was implementation of the European Commission’s € 2.7 billion Governance Initiative, which was set up in 2006 on the basis of European Council Conclusions requesting creation of ‘incentives for reform’.

As part of its support to strengthen accountability mechanisms at the pan-African level, ECDPM and the Africa Governance Institute (Dakar) jointly facilitated the first open workshop with African actors and stakeholders on the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

ECDPM followed a twin-track approach to partnership development in 2009: building strategic alliances with leading centres of excellence in the South to enhance the quality of our analysis and process facilitation work;
and investing in long-term partnerships to build the capacities of Southern organisations to engage in international relations, particularly with the EU.

In Africa, ECDPM strengthened its collaboration with the African Union Commission and enhanced its joint programmes on trade, governance and EU-Africa relations with the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA).