CSOs call on the European Commission to reject the merger of external financing instruments
As the European Commission is considering merging several existing instruments (those for humanitarian aid, development cooperation, and pre-accession assistance), a coalition of 48 civil society organisations is calling on President Von der Leyen to reject the proposal.
The rationale behind the proposal of merging external financing instruments is to provide the European Commission with greater flexibility. However, in practice, this would allow the European Commission to reallocate funds more quickly without undergoing a lengthy consultation process, which poses a significant threat to Official Development Assistance and humanitarian aid funding while also increasing the politicisation of aid.