PLATFORMA - Local & regional international action

PLATFORMA* welcomes the first review of the European Commission programmes for aid delivery in support of decentralisation processes in third countries.

These programmes provide considerable support to decentralisation reforms, which are essential in poor and fragile countries where efforts aimed at state building and public sector reforms are greatly needed.

Moreover, PLATFORMA supports a number of the recommendations outlined in the evaluation, including a call for the Commission to establish a unit dedicated to local governments and issues.  The evaluation also encourages the setting up of training sessions on decentralisation and local governance for the staff of EU delegations and Commission headquarters.

Finally, the European platform underlines that, at a time when the instruments for European external action are being negotiated for the period of 2014 to 2020, this publication constitutes an ally for local and regional governments.

This study, published on 12 March 2012, was conducted by a consortium of independent experts in 77 countries having benefited from aid delivery in support of decentralisation processes between 2000 and 2009. Through this aid delivery, the Commission aims both at bettering local governance and rendering access to local services more efficient.

* The European platform of local and regional authorities for development, whose secretariat is hosted by CEMR.