What is Public Technical Assistance and how should it incorporate the requirements of the Aid Effectiveness Agenda? The European Network of Implementing Development Agencies, EUNIDA, offers some answers to these questions.
An important point in the debate on aid effectiveness is the improvement of the quality of technical cooperation and the need to ensure a demand driven approach for all operations, as highlighted in recent reports from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Court of Auditors.
As a response to this debate, the Operational Framework on Aid Effectiveness of the Council of the European Union and especially the Backbone Strategy aim to put into practice the commitments of the Paris Declaration and subsequent Accra Agenda for Action (AAA), with a special emphasis on technical cooperation reform.
In this framework they highlight public expertise and its role in technical assistance programmes that aim to foster democratic governance.
Public Technical Assistance Explained
Public Technical Assistance is identified as a technical cooperation mechanism that contributes to effectiveness. But, what is public technical assistance? Why is it particularly relevant? And what added value does it bring to European cooperation?
Public Technical Assistance, referring to Technical Cooperation and not just the personnel involved, is a capacity building instrument based on the transfer of expertise and exchange of experiences among equals with the aim of strengthening public institutions to help ensure good governance, social cohesion and sustainable human development.
This is usually provided through technical cooperation mechanisms such as institutional twinning and exchange of experiences among equals that deliver the added value of building capacity to form the basis for future technical cooperation mechanisms, including triangular cooperation and south-south cooperation.
Therefore, Public Technical Assistance goes much further than the provision of experts only. It includes a wide scope of modalities, such as the design of methodologies, sectoral know-how, management tools, training courses, network activities, etc. which can be used to strengthen the local and national structures.
Crucial to the success of this process is to foster real country leadership free from any procedural obstacles placed there by the donor and the wider development community, which calls for donors to find a new and improved strategic approach while country leadership growths.
Peer-to-Peer Partnerships
Public Technical Assistance has been a key instrument for the European Commission’s cooperation with the accession countries. The twinning instrument is an example of good practice in supporting country leadership in the design and implementation of European Union funds, and in national and sectoral strategic programming. The results can be so encouraging that recent beneficiaries turn into providers: With twinning projects in candidate countries and the European Neighbourhood Partnership Instrument region able to count on the participation and lead of new EU Member States.
Part of that success is closely linked with the aim of the twinning instrument – supporting beneficiary countries in the efficient implementation of the acquis communautaire, or body of EU law accumulated thus far. While this is not strictly applicable to other countries, there are lessons to be learnt for other public technical assistance modalities: Empowerment and leadership of the partner country, use of country systems, exchange of experiences between equals and so forth, have all played their role.
Converting Bilateral Efforts into a European Contribution
Undoubtedly, this accumulated know-how needs to be better valued and used. Both the EC and the Member States are looking for ways to resolve a complex equation: How to articulate the use of previous good practices to most effectively address the requirements of the Aid Effectiveness Agenda? How to transform political and institutional commitments into concrete mechanisms?
Part of the answer may be found through an improved European approach towards Public Technical Assistance which is precisely what a number of Member States’ implementing development agencies decided to do from a very practical perspective. They joined together into a network, EUNIDA (European Network of Implementing Development Agencies), which is intended to implement governance projects and provide solutions to complex challenges, especially in fragile settings.
The network relies on a simple idea: Combining the strength, capacities, resources and know-how of its members to improve the quality of implementation, to eradicate wasted effort and to foster the synergies between the cooperation of different Member States. This is a deliberately “European approach” that transcends national identities and converts bilateral efforts into a single European contribution.
Such an approach calls for the “rolling up of sleeves” to look for complementarities and coordination, to seek each agency’s added values and to make them available to the network. In the framework of the Aid Effectiveness Agenda, a network such as EUNIDA is also a very flexible instrument which increases the capacity of response and reduces the delays in mobilising expertise: A crucial point, especially in a post-crisis context.
EUNIDA itself continues to expand, with membership open to the national implementing development agency of each Member State, not all of which are yet represented.
How Does it Work in Practice?
With regard to Public Technical Assistance, a close collaboration between national agencies with a public mandate for development cooperation enables the prompt mobilisation of high-level expertise from and through different European countries.
EUNIDA Members work with a public mandate from their respective EU Member States, i.e. EUNIDA Members are implementing agencies for their public administrations and involve their institutions in the projects.
On an expert level, the public mandate enables in cases to offer special service conditions to public servants that work in the networks’ projects abroad. This means, the public servant maintains his position in his home-administration and is seconded to another country for a determined period of time.
Far from limiting to public servants, in practice the network uses its Members’ structures to select expertise from the private and public sector from all over the world in a competitive procedure.
The network functions on a grouping contract and common rules of procedure. All projects are put into the network and a lead Member is selected based on established criteria and a specific common agreement. All terms of reference of specific projects and missions are put into the network by the lead partner, members offer their respective expertise and a selection of the best qualified expertise is made in a standardised procedure.
The common procedures have proved, in recent years, to be a practical vehicle for assuring a transparent decision process inside the network. Their practical application in all projects avoids any procedural delays and enables a quick mobilisation of the best qualified expertise from all over the Members’ structures and networks.
It is certainly a different model from normal consultancy arrangements and contribution agreements with international organisations. It provides access to expertise that may be otherwise difficult to mobilise, and serves as a basis for institutional exchanges and public partnerships (“twinning-like” programmes and projects) outside the neighbouring regions of the EU.
European cooperation is facing several internal challenges: To fulfil the Aid Effectiveness Agenda; to improve the quality of aid delivery; to “Europeanise” the different Member States’ technical cooperation, and to enhance European visibility. An organisation representing Member States and merging their capacities – such as EUNIDA – offers a very useful instrument with which to face some of these challenges.
The European Network of Implementing Development Agencies (EUNIDA) is a grouping of European agencies with a public mandate to develop, manage and implement development programmes. It aims to develop capacity in partner countries in order to enable them to achieve sustainable development strategies.
Members
• AEI – Agency for European Integration and Economic Development (Austria)
• CTB-BTC – Belgian Technical Cooperation (Belgium)
• Crown Agents for Oversea Government and Administrations Ltd (UK)
• GTZ – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH (Germany)
• EPLC – European Public Law Centre (Greece)
• FCI – France Coopération Internationale (France)
• FIIAPP – Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas (Spain)
• Lux-Development – Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation (Luxembourg)
• SNV – Netherlands Development Organisation (Netherlands)
Observers
• AECID - Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (Spain)
• ADA - Austrian Development Agency (Austria)
• HUN-IDA - Hungarian International Development Assistance (Hungary)
• IPAD - Instituto Português de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento (Portugal)
• Italian Directorate General for Cooperation (Italy)
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