Interactive: Analyzing the EU budget

CANBERRA — The European Union budget is agreed to by the European Commission, the EU Council, and European Parliament years in advance — with the current framework that began in 2014, concluding next year. The budget supports a range of EU priorities, along with humanitarian and development objectives. Through the European Commission’s financial transparency system, we can look at how this budget framework has been utilized to support low- and middle-income countries, refugees, humanitarian crises, and more. The financial transparency system provides access to details of the beneficiaries of funds awarded — or committed — by the commission every year. Data is published against two sources of funding: the European Development Fund and EU budget, which is directly administered by the departments within the commission, by its staff in the EU delegations, or through executive agencies. EDF is the main instrument used by the EU to provide aid to Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and other LMICs, and is funded by voluntary donations made by EU member states. But there are other avenues used by the EU to support humanitarian and development needs. For a better understanding of how the EU is supporting the delivery of the SDGs, we can look to the financial transparency system and analyze the combined EDF and broader EU budgets for these departments: DG DEVCO — Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development; DG NEAR — Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations; and DG ECHO — Directorate‑General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, extend development and humanitarian programming beyond EDF. Data published through the system includes funds committed for grants, prizes, public procurements in excess of €15,000 ($16,600), financial instruments, budget support, and external experts — with a lag of a year in data publication, making 2018 the most recent year available. Since 2014, the system has enabled insight into more than 154,000 awards worth €105 billion. Almost 68,000 beneficiaries have received access to funds with 212 countries and regions supported through the combined EDF and EU budgets. As part of a new tableau visualization, Devex has collated data available between 2014 and 2018 for insights into the current EU budget framework. DG DEVCO The data provided through the financial transparency systems enables an analysis of funding awarded by the responsible departments. Among the areas with a development focus, DG DEVCO is a major player delivering 15% of the total EU budget detailed in the system between 2014 and 2018. DG DEVCO is responsible for designing and delivering the international cooperation and development policy. Of the EU, it is the sole department responsible for the management of the European Development Fund. But EDF is not the major source of awarded funds. Between 2014 and 2018, EDF accounted for 42% of the funds awarded by DEVCO making the wider EU budget an important source of funds. The focus of DG DEVCO in the delivery of funds is budget support, which accounts for 45% of funds awards between 2014-2018. This is followed by grants at 40% and public procurements at 14%. Through the analysis of beneficiaries and their country of origin, there are shifts depending on the budget type. Focusing purely on awards delivered through EDF between 2014-2018, there is a focus on in Africa. Burkina Faso tops the country for beneficiaries receiving €449 million. This includes €135 million awarded to support good governance and development. Niger is followed in second with €424 million with Rwanda, Tanzania, and Benin also in the 10 top beneficiary countries. Haiti also appears receiving €272 million, including €100 million awarded in 2014 for state-building. But the top 10 also includes European countries seeing a large number of projects managed away from the recipient nations. France is the largest non-developing country beneficiary receiving €385 million through EDF between 2014-2018. This includes €25 million awarded to Interpol to support the work of the West African police information system. Belgium (€308 million), Germany (€302 million) and the United Kingdom (€300 million) also make the list of top beneficiary countries. Combined, the EDF budget with the broader EU budget sees the dominance of European governments and organizations — no developing nation makes the top 10. The value awarded to governments and organizations based in France, the U.K., and Germany exceeds €1 billion — the United States rounds out the top 10 with €453 million in awards. Among individual recipients, the largest recipient of funds have been Ukraine government, receiving €400 million in budget support and more than €635,000 in grants from the combined budgets. This is followed by the governments of Burkina Faso (€393 million), Niger (€385 million), Rwanda (€373 million) and Bangladesh (€250 million). DG NEAR DG NEAR is responsible for the delivery of EU policy on growth and its eastern and southern neighbors. But is also has responsibility for relations with the member countries of the European Economic Area and European Free Trade Association. Between 2014 and 2018, NEAR was responsible for the delivery of more than 5,400 awards totaling €7.9 billion — or 7.5% of the EU budget detailed in the financial transparency system. The objectives of NEAR ensure that beneficiary governments and organizations of NEAR-managed funds are closer to home. Governments and organizations based in Turkey shared in €1.1 billion between 2014-2018, including €400 million awarded in 2018 to support the integration of Syrian kids into the Turkish education system. This was followed by Morocco (€716 million) and Occupied Palestinian Territories (€699 million). The top 4 was rounded out by Belgium who received €565, the country is also home to the management of the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian crisis. By funding type, NEAR is focused on grants that accounted for 42% of awards between 2014-2018. This was followed by budget support (30%) and public procurements (19%). This method of funding means that governments have been the largest recipients of NEAR funds in this period. The Turkish government received the total €1.1 billion awarded to the country for Syrian integration and support programs followed by support for the governments of Morocco (€688 million), Palestine (€626 million), Tunisia (€515 million), and Georgia (€260 million). DG ECHO Headquartered in Brussels with a global network of field offices, the role of DG ECHO is to ensure the rapid and effective delivery of EU relief assistance after natural disasters or man-made crises. Between 2014-2018, ECHO was responsible for the delivery of more than 4,500 awards totaling €3.9 billion — or 3.7% of the EU budget detailed in the financial transparency system. In delivering awards, grants are the dominant delivery method accounting for more than 94% of awards between 2014-2018. Public procurements and provisional commitments followed by payment combine to make up the remainder. This funding model enables greater opportunities for NGOs and not-for-profits to receive EU funding. The Norwegian Refugee Council has been the largest recipient of funds, receiving €292 million over this period of time. This was followed by the Danish Refugee Council (€267 million), International Rescue Committee UK (€197 million), Action Against Hunger (€124 million), and International Medical Corps UK (€118 million). This also means that the location of beneficiary organizations are dominated by the EU. Governments and organizations based in the U.K. shared in €872 million between 2014 and 2018 followed by France (€704 million), Denmark (€462 million), Norway (€334 million), and Spain (€244 million). The new Devex interactive on the current EU budget framework provides insights into the EU budget by year, funding type, responsible department, beneficiaries, and beneficiary countries. Engage with the data and share your insights with Devex.