How to Win EuropeAid Funding: A Conversation with Koos Richelle

Navigating the European Union’s complex aid architecture can be tough, especially for smaller organizations located in the developing world. In the third and final installment of our interview with Koos Richelle, the EuropeAid director-general discusses ways civil society organizations may influence decisions made in Brussels, network with EU country delegations and gain access to EuropeAid funding. The Civil Society Helpdesk, or CiSocH, aims to involve all relevant stakeholders in discussions on EU development policies, as well as program design and implementation. From the EuropeAid perspective, what are the outcomes of CiSocH? I can give two answers on this. First of all, the [outlook] for the future. It is very essential that we have in the first half of 2011 a profound debate on the future of development cooperation. Europe is preparing the financial perspectives for the multiannual budget for 2014-’20 and the commission has to [draft] its proposals not late into June 2011. We prepare these proposals by presenting a number of discussion papers. We call them green books. They are discussion papers and there we’d like to get as much information as possible. We have produced green papers on issues like the future of development cooperation and what it should be or on the future of budget support, for instance. So, there are important questions that have been asked and we organize debates about this with our stakeholders. One big group of stakeholders is that of civil society organizations, and we have started what we call the Quadrilogue. That’s a discussion with civil society, member states, the European Parliament and the European Commission – four partners. And we have had this first meeting this year. We do this continent by continent. And we really want to know what the opinion of civil society organizations, the priorities for the future, should be. I think this debate is appreciated since it is a multistakeholder debate. Civil society organizations can get in direct discussions with representatives of member states and the European Parliament. So, this is one part. That’s for policies, forward-looking strategies. Then, the other part is on how we do our work with civil society organizations. We have a number of budget lines, thematic budget lines, that are largely put in place by civil society organizations. There is a specific budget line for civil society organizations and local authorities but [there are] also lines for other areas like gender equity. [For projects concerning the] environment, we use non-governmental organizations to implement [projects] and then we get organized through calls for proposals. We publish in our official journals the fact that NGOs can come up with proposals and that they will be evaluated by a group of experts. We select the best [proposal and the NGO] then receives the money to implement [the project]. It is quite cumbersome administratively because we invite organizations through our bureau and sometimes we get more than 1,000 proposals. We can only financially pay for 150 to 160, perhaps 200, in one call for proposals. And that’s not what civil society organizations like because they have to invest a lot to put such a program on the table, and then it’s all in vain. But that’s in order to protect, let’s say, transparency, and select the best proposals – and also to prevent favoritism [and criticism such as]: “It’s always the same NGOs that win the [bid] because they know people [who are involved] in the decision-making process.” So, it is very strictly organized in order to maintain objectivity, transparency and a level playing field for everybody. Are you in talks with civil society regarding the standards they must fulfill? We have the habit of talking and discussing regularly with, let’s say, umbrella organizations of NGOs such as CONCORD. We discuss everything from policies to implementation. It’s not just a free-floating discussion that we have with them. These are the consequences of our financial regulations, which have been established under the leadership of the member states, council and the European Parliament. If there are laws put in place, we simply have to implement them. But we make sure we discuss changes with civil society. Parliament always organizes a kind of hearing for NGOs when they change these kinds of regulations in order to make sure they don’t put something in place that is impossible to operate. In general, we are available to provide information on the system, on how it works, to NGOs. In pre-accession, we give special information to new member states in order to make sure that they know how to work with it. And in that respect we also provide specific information to NGOs and private companies upon request. I know that there is a feeling that NGOs from new member states are in a disadvantaged position compared with NGOs from the old member states. And, to certain level, that is true because we don’t just accept any NGO. That depends on the financial level of the project. You need to have built up a track record – this is in our financial regulations. And if you start an NGO with your mother-in-law this afternoon, you don’t have a track record, so you will certainly not be qualified for a big project. But there are ways and means to solve that. For instance, they can be part of a consortium with an NGO that already has the tack record and, in doing that, over a number of years, you build up your own track record. And then you can get qualified on your own. These are the kinds of techniques that we have to apply in order to make NGOs from new member states function. And don’t forget, it’s all about the protection of European taxpayers’ money. It’s what we would like to do and that calls for certain safeguards and guarantees within our processes. What’s the role of the EuropeAid delegations’ staff in the calls for proposal and the evaluation process? Well, the identification of issues to be undertaken is, in principle, the [first responsibility] of our delegations. But we have to distinguish between two sets of operations. One is centralized: Some of our budget lines and thematic program are worldwide, so we have to [send out] the calls for proposals from the central level, from Brussels. Others have specific windows for a country. If it’s on the country level, the delegation, in principle, does all the work: It publishes the calls for proposals, appoints the experts, is in the evaluation committee, and so on. If it’s all at the centralized level, we do the work. But [we always ask our delegations in the area the project proposal came from about] their opinion on the project, on its relevance, on the way it fits in with the polices, on the organization itself. And [delegation] opinion weighs heavily: If they say “Sorry, but we shouldn’t do it,” then the project [proposal] is [rejected] because they know the local situation best. Of course, they cannot just say “Don’t do it.” They have to give us [good reasons] why they think that it is not good. If they have solid arguments, we will not [approve] that project. So, they have a rather [big] role and say in what’s going on and what will be accepted and refused. The local delegations are crucial in the EU delivery of aid. Which channels should civil society organizations go through to get to EU representatives? It depends a lot on the country and one size does not fit all. In some countries, you have a well-developed NGO system that is also recognized. In some countries, NGOs are sometimes seen as the enemy of the state. You have to [adapt] according to the domestic treatment of NGOs. We have this principle: [We would like to have a system wherein everybody is able to express themselves through freedom of speech] and we would like to encourage such a system. But you cannot express [what a country wants] from the outside world. It is the country itself that has to take the lead, and the country is not the government. The country is [the social fabric]. It involves parliaments, the private sector, civil society organizations and local authorities. And you have to encourage [the development of such a system because that could only lead to real democracy]. Share your thoughts on EuropeAid’s funding selection process below. Read more: - A Conversation with EuropeAid Director-General Koos Richelle: Part 1 - Koos Richelle: EU Looking For ‘Business-like Cooperation’ in Aid Delivery Read more EU business news: - How to Engage the EU on Development Business: A Primer - How European NGOs Can Better Engage the EU: A Conversation with Concord’s Justin Kilcullen - EuropeAid Pushes ‘Results-Oriented Monitoring’ - Macedonia Deputy PM: Rising EU Aid Requires Effective Management Read more international development business news.