Joint evaluation of co-ordination of trade capacity building in partner countries

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    ECDPM contributed to this evaluation for The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, July 2007

    The EC and the Member States have devised numerous TradeCapacityBuilding programmes to assist developing countries in defining their trade strategies. The study focuses on how the EC and the MS have ensured the coordination and complementarity between these programmes.

    This evaluation is one of a series of joint evaluation studies, initiated by the Heads of the European Union Member States’ evaluation services and the European Commission (EU-HES). The evaluations aim at assessing the role played by the Maastricht Treaty precepts of coordination, complementarity and coherence in European Commission’s and EU Member States’ development cooperation policies;

    The European Union is currently considering the most appropriate way to support developing countries in their integration into the world economy. Within this framework the EU is devising numerous trade capacity and adjustment programmes. This evaluation tries to anchor this reflection into the broader development debate, in particular regarding the need and efficiency of trade capacity building initiatives, primarily at EU level, but also in relation to multilateral, national, regional and pluri-lateral initiatives. The study provides valuable insights to development policy makers in the European Commission (EC) and relevant institutions of the Member States (MS), as well as in Partner countries.

    Trade Capacity Building (TCB) includes two broad areas of assistance: trade policy and regulations; and trade development. The evaluation, conducted under EC auspices and in which also Belgium, France, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom were involved, assesses the extent to which the EC and the MS have achieved effective co-ordination and complementarity of TCB initiatives.

    The evaluation focuses on Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and on the Doha agenda period from 2001 to the present. The evaluation’s scope for assessing co-ordination is not limited to the specific relations between the EC and MS; it also encompasses co-ordination between EU donors (the European Commission and the Member States) and the Partner countries or regions, where possible taking into account aspects of ownership, harmonisation and alignment. 

     

    Photo By IFPRI-IMAGES

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