In his latest blog, Simon Maxwell asks whether the EU can deliver joined-up thinking and action in international development. He recommends eight changes which should be recommended by the review of the EU’s external affairs currently underway. Read the blog here.
May 7, 2013
Can the EU deliver joined-up thinking and action in international development? Eight steps for a better External Action Service
Posted by edcsp under Blog | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", EU Development Policy, joined-up thinking, PCD, policy coherence for development |Leave a Comment
March 1, 2013
Pitching on the post-2015 goals: A Decent Life for All
Posted by edcsp under Blog | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", European Commission Communication, Post-2015 Goals |1 Comment
In his latest blog, Simon Maxwell assesses the long-awaited European Commission Communication on the post-2015 Goals and suggests that the Council Conclusions should consist of no more than six words: ‘Thank you very much. We agree.’
Read the opinion here.
February 26, 2013
The global poverty agenda: Old, yes, but still relevant
Posted by edcsp under Events, News | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", EU Development Days, global development agenda, post-MDGs, poverty reduction |Leave a Comment
With two years before the Millennium Development Goals expire, debates are underway about a new set of targets. Should a new action plan resemble the MDGs, or should it take a different approach? In an interview with Devex at the EU Development Days in October 2012, Simon Maxwell said poverty reduction remains the main concern and should continue to top the global development agenda.
Watch the interview here.
January 23, 2013
How can the EU take forward the resilience agenda: a ten point plan
Posted by edcsp under Blog | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", development, European Commission, resilience |Leave a Comment
In October 2012, the European Commission published a Communication on ‘The EU approach to resilience’. This is to be followed by Council Conclusions and an Action Plan. The former will formalise EU policy in this area. The second will put flesh on the bones of the policy. In this opinion, Simon Maxwell sets the Communication in context and offers some thoughts on next steps.
January 8, 2013
Is there a role for Northern NGOs in a world of MICs?
Posted by edcsp under Presentation | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", Middle-income Countries (MICs), NGOs |Leave a Comment
June 26, 2012
Audio recording from EDCSP-hosted event on “Tackling Global Poverty” now available
Posted by edcsp under Events, News | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", aid effectiveness, development objectives, EDCSP, Karen Jorgensen, Lord Hollick, Rt Hon Malcolm Bruce, Tackling global poverty, Thijs Berman |Leave a Comment
An audio recording of yesterday’s event hosted by the EDCSP at the Houses of Parliament, on “Tackling Global Poverty: where next for Brussels?” is now available here.
June 21, 2012
Brainstorming session with European People’s Party (EPP) members of the Development Committee (DEVE)
Posted by edcsp under Events | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", brainstorming session, DEVE Committee, EDCSP, EPP, Gay Mitchell, ODI, Sian Herbert |Leave a Comment
On 19 April, Simon Maxwell and Siân Herbert supported a brainstorming session with European People’s Party (EPP) members of the European Parliament’s Development Committee (DEVE), following an invitation by Gay Mitchell MEP (Joint Coordinator of EPP DEVE). You can listen to an audio file of the session here.
June 19, 2012
Event report of the EDCSP-hosted round-table on EU aid effectiveness
Posted by edcsp under Events | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", aid effectiveness, Annalisa Prizzon, Matthew Geddes, Romilly Greenhill, Vincent Grimaud |Leave a Comment
On 14 June, EDCSP hosted a private roundtable at ODI, bringing together specialists on aid effectiveness and EU development cooperation to discuss recent work quantifying the benefits of improving aid effectiveness and the information provided by indices of donor performance. Click here to read an event report.
June 12, 2012
New event on 14 June: A private round-table on aid effectiveness
Posted by edcsp under Events, News | Tags: "EU development aid", "Simon Maxwell", aid effectiveness, Annalisa Prizzon, Arne Bigsten, EDCSP, Jean Philippe Platteau, Matthew Geddes, ODI, Romilly Greenhill, Sven Tengstam |Leave a Comment
On 14 June, EDCSP will host a private round-table on aid effectiveness with panellists from the European Commission, the University of Gothenburg and ODI. This round-table will focus on a study for the EU by Arne Bigsten, Jean Philippe Platteau and Sven Tengstam, which quantifies the benefits of measures to improve aid effectiveness. From ODI, Romilly Greenhill and Annalisa Prizzon will present their commentary on the study and Matthew Geddes will present his work on how the EU fares in donor indices. Simon Maxwell, who has examined the practical implications of the study, will chair the discussion.
Speakers include:
- Arne Bigsten - Professor, Development Economics, University of Gothenburg
- Vincent Grimaud – Head of Aid and Development Effectiveness and Financing, DG DEVCO, the European Commission
- Romilly Greenhill - Research Fellow, ODI
- Annalisa Prizzon - Research Officer, ODI
- Matthew Geddes - Research Officer, ODI
An event summary will be available online following the event.
May 25, 2012
New event on 25 June: Tackling global poverty: Where next for Brussels?
Posted by edcsp under Events, News | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", European development policy, Karen Jorgensen, Rt Hon Malcolm Bruce, Thijs Berman |Leave a Comment
EDCSP will host a public event on 25 June from 14:30 to 16:00 examining the recent inquiries into EU development cooperation by the IDC, the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee and the OECD-DAC’s peer review.
The panel includes:
- Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Bruce MP – Chair of the International Development Select Committee in the House of Commons
- Thijs Berman MEP – Member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Development (DEVE)
- Karen Jorgensen, Head of Division, Review, Evaluation and Engagement (REDD), Development Cooperation Directorate, OECD
- Lord Hollick – Member of the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee
- Simon Maxwell (chair) – Senior Research Associate, ODI
To register online or for more details click here.
May 22, 2012
A waymark reached. Is the finish line in sight?
Posted by edcsp under Blog | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", Agenda for Change, EU Development Policy, Mikaela Gavas, multi-annual financial framework |Leave a Comment
Simon Maxwell and Mikaela Gavas analyse the Conclusions regarding the new EU development policy, ‘Agenda for Change’, published by the EU Foreign Affairs Council in October 2011. They ask what has been gained and lost in the process, and whether it is now possible to see what kind of settlement will be reached when the Multi-Annual Financial Framework for 2014-20 is agreed. Read their opinion here.
April 30, 2012
Where are the biggest gains in aid effectiveness –practically speaking?
Posted by edcsp under Blog | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", aid effectiveness, development aid, Paris Agenda |Leave a Comment
Simon Maxwell examines the practical implications of the benefits of measures to improve aid effectiveness at the European level, by analysing the European Commission funded report on the subject by Bigsten, Platteau and Tengstam and an EDCSP commentary by Prizzon and Greenhill.
April 20, 2012
Time to end ambiguity in European policy-making
Posted by edcsp under Blog | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", development policy, European Commission, policy-making, trade and development policy |Leave a Comment
On 27 January 2012, the European Commission published a Communication on ‘Trade, Growth and Development: Tailoring trade and investment policy for those countries most in need’. On 12 March, this was discussed in the Council of Ministers, which adopted Conclusions on the subject. Simon critically analyses the ambiguity of European policy-making, taking the Commission’s Communication as a case study in this EDCSP blog.
March 8, 2012
EU budget surprise: Member States proposing budgetisation of the EDF
Posted by edcsp under Blog, News | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", EDF, EDF budgetisation, European Development Fund, European development policy, Sian Herbert |1 Comment
Out of the blue a significant number of EU Member States have begun advocating for the European Development Fund to be incorporated within the main EU budget – not in 2021, as previously discussed, but as early as 2014, when the new Multi-Annual Financial Framework comes into force. Is this some kind of conversion to rational analysis? A device to reduce spending through Brussels? Or a clever negotiating strategy designed to achieve something else entirely?
Read Simon and Siân’s analysis in this EDCSP Opinion.
February 21, 2012
Simon is appointed to Andris Piebalgs’ Scientific Advisory Board
Posted by edcsp under News | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", Andris Piebalgs, European Commission, Scientific Advisory Board for EU development policy |Leave a Comment
We are delighted to announce that Simon Maxwell has been appointed a Founder Member of European Commissioner Andris Piebalgs’ Scientific Advisory Board for EU development policy.
After the publication of the Commission’s new development strategy – ‘An Agenda for Change’, the Scientific Board is another step to further modernise EU development policy.
The other members are:
- Ha-Joon Chang (University of Cambridge)
- Paul Collier (Oxford University)
- Dirk Messner (German Development Institute)
- François Bourguignon (Paris School of Economics)
- Elizabeth Sidiropoulos (South African Institute of International Affairs)
- Jonathan White (German Marshall Fund)
- Lennart Wohlgemuth (Gothenburg University)
February 14, 2012
Simon and Siân give evidence to the IDC inquiry on EU development assistance
Posted by edcsp under Events, Facts, News | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", European development policy, IDC, International Development Committee, Sian Herbert |Leave a Comment
The International Development Committee recently called Simon Maxwell and Siân Herbert to give oral evidence at a session for the inquiry into EU development assistance.
The session covered a vast array of issues including:
- The EU’s new development strategy – An Agenda for Change;
- The comparative advantages of the EC, compared to both bilateral and multiateral donors;
- The differences between the EU’s central development instruments, and the European Development Fund (EDF);
- How the EU should deal with middle-incomes countries;
- Administration costs – looking at the tricky task of comparing DFID to the European Commission’s development projects; and
- Policy coherence for development.
Click here for a transcript of the session.
February 5, 2012
EDCSP visit the European Parliament
Posted by edcsp under News | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", European development policy, European Parliament, Mikaela Gavas |Leave a Comment
Simon Maxwell and Mikaela Gavas recently spent two days at the European Parliament, meeting MEPs and Committee Secretariat staff. Their objectives were (a) to understand better how the EP works, (b) to map who is doing what on the current EU agenda, especially the Multi-Annual Financial Framework, (c) to exchange views on the MFF, and (d) to explore the potential for a European Think-Tanks Group initiative linking the EP and national parliaments.
Read more in this trip report.
February 3, 2012
Too much aid to middle income countries? The EU’s aid allocation conundrum
Posted by edcsp under Blog | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", development, differentiation, EU Development Policy, European Commission, MICs, Poverty focus |Leave a Comment
The high share of aid provided to relatively better-off middle income countries is one of the biggest challenges to the aid record of the European Commission. But what are the reasons behind this?
Simon Maxwell sets out to explore the issue in this EDCSP Opinion.
January 11, 2012
Reflections on the Durban outcome and the EU’s role in brokering a deal
Posted by edcsp under Blog, News | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", climate change, Connie Hedegaard, Durban, EU |Leave a Comment
Over on his website, Simon Maxwell looks at the outcome of the climate talks in Durban, focusing on the central role played by the EU. Simon notes:
“The most interesting aspect for me is the role of the EU in brokering this deal, first by developing the idea of a ‘road-map’ to a post-Kyoto framework, and second by stitching together an alliance across the traditional dividing lines of Annex 1, Annex 2 and non-Annex 1 countries, as well as large and small emitters. I can’t say that I have studied the internal EU processes in any detail, nor been able to disentangle the role of European institutions versus Member States, but at first sight Connie Hedegaard, the EU Climate Commissioner, deserves a great deal of credit. There are a couple of implications.
First, Durban may well provide a case study of why it is sensible for Member States to work together through the EU, and of how to do it. At a time of political crisis in Europe, there are valuable lessons about the benefits of developing an EU-wide vision and set of targets, as well as specific instruments like the European Emissions Trading Scheme, however flawed (but NB worth celebrating and defending, especially given the current row with the Chinese, Americans and others about bringing airline emissions into the Scheme). Are there implications for development ministers working on climate change, but also more widely?
Second, it is interesting to speculate whether and how EU momentum will be sustained. Is it sensible to think, for example, that the global public good would be served if EU Member States concentrated more of their climate change energy through Brussels institutions rather than bilaterally – giving Connie Hedegaard more bargaining power in the negotiations over a new treaty? From a development angle, there might be implications for the funding of the EU’s Global Climate Change Alliance, so far very poorly funded, and for the allocation of bilateral funds, like the UK’s International Climate Fund.”
To read more, click here.
December 20, 2011
Re-thinking Europe: what development can offer
Posted by edcsp under Blog | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", development, eurozone crisis, policy |Leave a Comment
In development circles, we often ask what ‘Europe’ can contribute to our development objectives. However, with Europe in financial and perhaps even political crisis, isn’t time we asked what development can contribute to our European objectives? Simon Maxwell sets out three answers to this question in his latest EDCSP blog.
December 19, 2011
‘Modernising European Development Policy’ at the European Development Days
Posted by edcsp under Events | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", Andris Piebalgs, Baroness Lindsay Northover, European development policy |Leave a Comment
On 16 December, EDCSP jointly hosted a panel debate, as part of the European Think-Tanks Group and with French research institute Ferdi, looking at ‘Modernising European Development Policy’, at the European Development Days conference in Warsaw.
To watch a video of the debate, click here.
December 6, 2011
Attention, MEPs: The future of EU external action is up for grabs
Posted by edcsp under Blog | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", Agenda for Change, development, European development policy, European Parliament, MEPs, Mikaela Gavas, Sian Herbert |Leave a Comment
As the European Commission is on the eve of releasing legislative proposals on the future financial instruments and regulations for external action, researchers from the European Think-Tanks Group identify six key points for Members of the European Parliament to keep an eye on.
Read more here.
Also published by EurActiv.
October 25, 2011
Simon Maxwell discusses the Commission’s new Agenda for Change
Posted by edcsp under Events | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", Agenda for Change, aid, Commissioner Piebalgs, development, EU, European Commission, European development policy, growth |Leave a Comment
On 19 October, the EDCSP’s Simon Maxwell was invited to speak on the panel at Commissioner Andris Piebalgs’ launch event for the European Commission’s new development strategy – An Agenda for Change. Simon welcomed the document and the new directions it signals, noting that it is still work in progress, with seven more months of negotiations ahead. He also identified some key points of unfinished business that the strategy uncovers.
To watch the panel discussion, click here.
To watch Simon’s speech, click here.
To watch Simon’s interview by Capacity4dev, click here.
October 18, 2011
An Agenda for Change for EU Development Policy
Posted by edcsp under Blog | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", Agenda for Change, aid, development, EU Development Policy, European Commission, Mikaela Gavas, Sian Herbert |Leave a Comment
After more than a year and a half of consultations, Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs has released a new proposed strategy for EU development cooperation – in a document called ‘An Agenda for Change’.
The new policy directly descends from the European Consensus on Development, however also signals four important shifts:
- a higher profile for good governance and human rights, linked to greater conditionality;
- a higher profile for growth, with a strong focus on leveraging in private sector money;
- the introduction of the concept of differentiated development partnerships, with new allocation criteria for aid; and
- an attempt to boost EU joint work.
Read our response to the Commission’s proposal here
October 3, 2011
EADI-DSA conference “Rethinking Development in an Age of Scarcity and Uncertainty” – EDCSP trip report
Posted by edcsp under Events | Tags: "Simon Maxwell", development, EADI-DSA conference, EU, European development policy, Mikaela Gavas, Rethinking Development in an Age of Scarcity and Uncertainty, Sian Herbert |Leave a Comment
From 19 to 22 September, the EADI and DSA hosted a conference in York looking at “Rethinking Development in an Age of Scarcity and Uncertainty”. The EDCSP team held a panel discussion, jointly with its partner think tanks, as part of the European Think Tanks Group (ETTG), which explored the subject of “Modernising European Development Policy in a Changing World”, and posed the question, ”What can Researchers bring to the Table?”
Click here to read our reflections on the conference, and for some insights from our panel discussion.
