Policy Updates

On June 27, 2024, the Strategic Agenda 2024-2029, which emphasized the EU's commitment to peace, cooperation, and economic prosperity amid a reshaping of the global political landscape marked by strategic competition and instability, was adopted by the European Council.

The EU outlined the following priorities:

• Bolster Europe’s economic competitiveness, including deepening the Single Market in strategic sectors like energy, finance, and telecommunications;
• Strengthen security and defense capabilities within the EU;
• Reinforce EU sovereignty and unity to address strategic competition, climate change, technological advancements, and global instability;
• Strengthen external influence by supporting Ukraine in defending its sovereignty, promoting stability in its neighborhood and beyond, fostering strategic partnerships, and coordinating internal and external policies to address global challenges effectively;
• Uphold human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, and human rights, while safeguarding the rule of law and enhancing democratic resilience;
• Invest in defense readiness, supporting Ukraine, combating crime, and addressing cyber threats, while enhancing cooperation with NATO and other partners;
• Ensure the proper functioning of the Schengen area, addressing irregular migration, and promoting legal pathways;
• Support the international legal order, promoting peace, democracy, and sustainable development, and reforming the multilateral system;
• Boost economic growth, supporting social welfare systems, investing in skills and education, and reducing disparities across the EU; and
• Pursue a merit-based approach to EU enlargement, supporting aspiring members, and undertaking necessary internal reforms.

On June 27, 2024, the European Council reached an agreement on the suggested names for the top three EU positions, with the notable renomination of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Von der Leyen ( EPP, Germany) must secure the European Parliament's support and win at least 361 votes on July 18, 2024, to secure her position.

Antonio Costa ( S&D, Portugal) will replace Charles Michel as European Council President on December 1, 2024.

Kaja Kallas (Renew, Estonia) was nominated for the role of High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy as well as Vice-President of the European Commission, pending the European Parliament’s autumn 2024 approval.

Roberta Metsola ( EPP, Malta) is expected to be re-elected as European Parliament President for a second 2.5-year mandate. The vote will take place at the first European Parliament plenary on July 16, 2024.

On June 24, 2024, the Council of the EU adopted conclusions on the midterm evaluation of the NDICI-Global Europe instrument, based on the European Commission's May 2024 report on the evaluation of the EU's External Financing Instruments for the MFFs of 2014-2020 and 2021-2027.

The Council stated that the NDICI-Global Europe instrument was fit for purpose and met its objectives. It highlighted that the instrument addressed the fragmentation of the previous financial structure, improving the clarity, effectiveness, and transparency of EU support and cooperation with its partner countries. It also underlined the instrument’s significance in relation to the EU’s geopolitical role.

The Council stressed that the effective implementation of NDICI-Global Europe faces a number of challenges, such as ensuring coherence between internal and external policies, enhancing synergy between country, regional, and thematic programs, and addressing shortcomings of the incentive-based approach.

Critical areas for improvement included:

• Crisis response with long-term development;
• Increasing the impact of the EFSD+ through expedited contracting and efficient budgetary guarantees; and
• Bolstering local ownership and participation among communities and civil society to make the implementation more inclusive and effective.

On June 24, 2024, the Council of the EU approved conclusions on the 2024 annual report on EU ODA targets.

The report showed that in 2023, EU collective ODA reached EUR95.9 billion (US$102.8 billion), up from EUR93.3 billion (US$100 billion) in 2022. However, ODA/GNI decreased to 0.57% in 2023, falling from 0.59% in 2022.

EU collective ODA to LDCs decreased from EUR16.5 billion (US$17.7 billion) in 2021 to EUR15.3 billion (US$US$16.4 billion) in 2021. It fell from 0.11% ODA/GNI in 2021 to 0.10% in 2022.

The EU and its Member States still remained the largest global provider of ODA in 2023.

The Council stressed the urgency for the EU and Member States to take further steps to reach the collective commitment of 0.7% ODA/GNI and to allocate 0.2% of ODA to low-income countries by 2030.

On June 24, 2024, it was announced that EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen was appointed Chair of the GEM Report Advisory Board, succeeding David Moinina Sengeh.

Urpilainen's appointment underscored her commitment to education, a priority during her tenure as EU Commissioner. Under her leadership, the International Partnerships budget allocation for education showed a significant increase of approximately 13% during 2021-2023.

Urpilainen noted her plans to leverage her experience to support the GEM Report’s strategy, emphasizing impactful global education investments. Her role will include leading the annual Advisory Board meetings in Paris and advocating for the GEM Report's initiatives as well as UN SDG #4 by prioritizing outputs to support international efforts in enhancing educational policies.

The Advisory Board, comprising 35 members from diverse sectors, is slated to finalize a new five-year strategy at an upcoming meeting chaired by Urpilainen.

On June 20, 2024, the EIB approved EUR12.8 billion (US$13.7 billion) in financing to improve sustainable transport, increase the use of renewable energy, build new student housing, improve earthquake and flood protection, and help business expansion.

EUR2.9 billion (US$3.1 billion) will be allocated for urban development, education, health, and water projects. EUR2.1 billion (US$2.2 billion) is slated to support corporate innovation, with a focus on female entrepreneurs in Africa and the Caribbean, as well as business financing in Ukraine.

EIB President Nadia Calviño highlighted that support will go to global and regional flagship projects and that the investments will improve quality of life and reflect the EIB's commitment to strengthen European resilience, productivity growth, and innovation.

On June 20, 2024, Team Europe announced a contribution of more than EUR750 million (US$800 million) to AVMA, spearheaded by Gavi, the African Union, and Africa CDC, at the Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation.

EUR220 million (US$233 million) will come from the European Commission.

AVMA aims to foster regional vaccine production and vaccine sovereignty on the African continent by procuring more than 800 million doses of African-produced vaccines over ten years. Up to US$1 billion will be earmarked to support sustainable vaccine manufacturing in Africa that contributes to healthy global vaccine markets and improves pandemic and outbreak vaccine supply resilience.

The initiative also seeks to diversify global vaccine suppliers, with the goal of bringing at least four African manufacturers into the market on a sustainable basis.

On June 13, 2024, in her speech at the first-ever G7 session focused on Africa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the potential of the African continent and the evolution of its relationship with the G7 from one of ODA to that of equal partners.

Von der Leyen highlighted the need to improve the G7's offerings compared to China, Russia, and the Middle East, emphasizing the importance of long-term, sustainable investments that create jobs in Africa. She stressed that the G7 has already demonstrated its commitment to Africa during the pandemic, citing EU support for establishing mRNA vaccine production facilities in Rwanda and Senegal. In addition, von der Leyen noted that the G7 has committed US$250 billion through the PGII, of which US$33 billion has already been delivered to North and Sub-Saharan Africa.

A breakdown of the full amounts and whether the referenced commitments are new or additional funding is not publically available.

On June 12, 2024, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen cautioned that the EU must strike a balance between increasing defense spending and maintaining development assistance to avoid geopolitical isolation.

Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU and its member states have prioritized increased military spending. Despite being one of the world's largest donors of ODA, the EU faces the challenge of maintaining its level of funding for international partnerships in a context of geopolitical competition.

Urpilainen emphasized the need to invest in international partnerships alongside military capacity to address broader security challenges like climate change, migration, and terrorism. She warned that geopolitical competition necessitates a balanced approach, expressing concern about future political support for this strategy with the EU elections results tilting to the right.

In addition, Urpilainen stressed the importance of the next EU budget to maintain or increase funding for external relations, particularly keeping education at 13%, and for human development initiatives including education, research, and health to be included in Global Gateway.

Urpilainen underlined that Europe could become geopolitically isolated if investment in external relations is not sustained.

On June 11, 2024, the EIB announced that it will provide Ukraine with a EUR100 million (US$107 million) loan to rebuild municipal infrastructure damaged by the war against Russia.

These funds, agreed at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, will be used to rebuild schools, kindergartens, hospitals, social housing and local transport, in addition to ensuring essential services such as clean water and sanitation.

Calls for project proposals are set to be issued, inviting communities to submit applications for the reconstruction of health facilities, housing, education, water sector and shelters. The projects will prioritize liberated territories, areas close to conflict zones, and regions with large numbers of internally displaced persons.