Three reports examine development assistance from new EU member states

CPS research fellows contribute to three reports released as part of multi-member project led by the Center for Economic Development (CED) that examine how new EU member states contribute to development assistance in third countries.

Developing Open, Rule-based, Predictable, Non-discriminatory Trade Relations with Priority ODA Recipients (Download) identifies ways to develop and facilitate trade between new member states and ODA (official development assistance) recipient countries to stimulate those countries' competitiveness on the global market and encourage regional integration.

The Role of Civil Society in Development Assistance and Aid Effectiveness (Download) examines how civil society organizations in new member states work to provide development aid or conduct civil society capacity-building projects in ODA recipient countries, as well as how they liaise with EU institutions and with each other to shape development policy.

The Role of the Private Sector in Development Assistance and Aid Effectiveness (Download) analyzes the unique role that businesses play in providing aid and stimulating trade in recipient countries and offers recommendations to give the private sector a more central role in providing ODA.

The reports were released at a June 20-21 conference in Sofia where experts gathered to discuss the results of research undertaken for "Update of the current status of implementation of international/bilateral trade regimes with ODA recipients and the current role of civil society and private sectors as development actors in the new EU Member states."

Other PASOS members who partnered on the project are the Center for Policy Studies at the Central European University (Hungary); the Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS (Latvia); the Institute of Public Affairs (Poland); the Institute for Public Policy (Romania); the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (Slovakia); and the PRAXIS Center for Policy Studies (Estonia). SLOGA Slovenian NGDO platform (Slovenia) was also a partner in the project. In addition, the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, a PASOS member in Prague, assisted the PASOS Secretariat on the Czech aspects of the project.

The project sought to build transnational alliances between new EU member states to disseminate their best network and advocacy practices with regards to the existent international trade systems with ODA recipients. 

The project was funded by the European Commission.