Debates on the conditionality of EU funds have risen up the EU agenda and will not go away anytime soon. The issue has come to the forefront because of new rules for allocating funds within the EU, which also have important implications for the union’s external aid amid a growing trend of authoritarianism around the world.
The reforms the EU is making to ensure that internally disbursed EU funds do not bankroll democratic backsliding in member states should inform Brussels’ diplomatic agenda too. Its current funding of various authoritarian-leaning regimes overseas sits uneasily with the EU’s internal efforts to condition funds on political values and clashes with the union’s goals for international development and foreign policy.
As part of the race to net zero, and in line with commitments by countries of the world to realise the objectives of the Paris Agreement, investment in what may be considered a novel energy form in this part of the world- hydrogen – has been on the rise. As it turns out, hydrogen is more than a Chemistry class molecule; it can be used as fuel to power vehicles, machinery and buildings – with zero emissions.
According to the International Energy Agency, demand for hydrogen has grown more than threefold since 1975. With the need to diversify the energy mix and provide for cleaner fuels that can power heavy machinery, hydrogen has become a go-to fuel for the energy transition.
Overview and purpose
The European Union (EU) Roadmap for engagement with Civil Society is a joint initiative between the EU and its Member States to strengthen partnership with civil society around the world and providing support in these endeavors. In 2017 the EU Delegation in Liberia, together with Member States, developed the EU Roadmap (RM) for engagement with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) covering the period 2017-2020. The EU Delegation in Liberia now seeks to update the Roadmap beyond 2020, partially considering new developments in the context and partially in view of the new EU priorities set for the programming period 2021-2027 in line with the new Neighborhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI). Out of the five priority areas set in the new NDICI, the following two priorities; i) Green Deal and ii) Jobs and Growth, have been identified in EUs programming with Liberia 2021-2027. These two priority areas are interlinked with the identified Team
De ambassadeurs van de EU-lidstaten hebben de definitieve compromistekst goedgekeurd van NDICI, het
instrument voor nabuurschapsbeleid, ontwikkeling en internationale samenwerking, een onderdeel van het meerjarig financieel kader (MFK) 2021-2027.
Met het budget van
€ 79,5 miljard kan de EU met
alle derde landen samenwerken, haar waarden en belangen wereldwijd doeltreffend verdedigen en promoten, en mondiale multilaterale inspanningen ondersteunen.
Dit nieuwe financieringsinstrument is een tastbaar bewijs dat de EU een wereldspeler wil zijn. Met de COVID-19-pandemie is onze verantwoordelijkheid verdubbeld. Dankzij NDICI kunnen we partnerlanden ondersteunen en wereldwijd duurzame ontwikkeling bevorderen.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, took part in an informal joint meeting of EU foreign and home affairs ministers via video conference on March 15, together with Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior.
The meeting was devoted to the EU’s migration policy and its relations with countries of origin and transit. It provided an opportunity to deliver a European message of action and mobilization on a key issue that constitutes one of the pillars of the Pact on Migration and Asylum proposed by the Commission and which plays an important role in finding a balance between solidarity and responsibility.