State Building Contracts appear to be a smart and flexible response to past criticisms of EC budget support in fragile, transition and conflict-affected environments, but the effectiveness of this form of budget support, which was formalised in 2012, remains to be seen. Officials within EU institutions and EU member states have different expectations about the strategic and developmental role that State Building Contracts should play in partner countries. Stakeholders will need to carefully avoid overloading the modality with too many objectives and demands. Capacity requirements for implementing budget support require greater attention in fragile contexts. This concerns the need for more flanking measures for capacity development to effectively accompany the implementation of State Building Contracts and the need for extra expertise at the level of the EU delegations. State Building Contracts conceptually support the New Deal’s peacebuilding and statebuilding goals, but to accomplish them, EC officials and partners implementing the State Building Contracts will have to keep the New Deal’s ambitions in close sight.

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Authors

Volker Hauck Head of Programme Security and Resilience

Greta Galeazzi (Alumna) Policy Officer European External Affairs Programme

Jan Vanheukelom Acting Head of Learning and Quality Support