The European Commission is using a midterm review of its aid budget to double down on its openly self-interested global investment strategy, while cutting funds to countries where it is not enjoying “performant partnerships,” according to documents seen by Devex.
Tasked by European Union national leaders in February with cutting €2 billion from the bloc’s common development budget to free up funds for other priorities closer to home, the commission has crafted an approach which it admitted in one document will require “careful communication towards partner countries” around the world.
That’s because rather than applying the €2 billion cut equally across all aid-receiving countries, the commission recently briefed EU member state officials that it will decide the reductions “on the basis of a stringent prioritisation, tailor-made for each region, based on shared interests and priorities, in particular Global Gateway and migration, while preserving the engagement to human development.”