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Coherence and Consistency of EU Policies:

Proposed mechanisms for implementation

“The Union shall be served by a single institutional framework which shall ensure the consistency and the continuity of the activities carried out in order to attain its objectives while respecting and building upon the acquis communautaire.

“The Union shall in particular ensure the consistency of its external activities as a whole in the context of its external relations, security, economic and development policies. The Council and the Commission shall be responsible for ensuring such consistency…” Article 3, Title 1 (Common Provisions), Consolidated Versions of the Treaty of European Union.

“The Community shall take account of the objectives referred to in Article 177 in the policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries.” Article 178 Title XX (Development Co-operation) Consolidated Version of the Treaty of European Union.

Introduction

Under the Treaty of the European Union the Council and the Commission are required to ensure that all policies and practices of the EU that impact on developing countries are coherent with its development co-operation policies as set out in the Treaty (Article 177). In June 1997 the Development Council adopted a resolution on policy coherence which called on the Commission to:

• introduce coherence impact assessments of relevant new legislation,
• present regularly (preferably yearly) reports on coherence related issues, covering at a minimum key subjects, such as Agriculture, Fisheries, Migration and Conflict Prevention,
• investigate the use of joint monitoring procedures with developing countries for prompt identification of possible incoherence,
• organise joint Council meetings and consultations between experts on special issues.

Eurostep recognises that preparations are now being made to produce a Commission Communication to the Council and Parliament that addresses the June 1997 Resolution and that the European Parliament will debate the Coherence of EU policies on 16 February. The opportunity now exists to put in place adequate technical mechanisms that will ensure that all EU policies are coherent and consistent with its development co-operation objectives.

In the past Eurostep has drawn attention to a number of instances in which there has been a clear lack of coherence in the practices pursued under different policies of the EU. Eurostep believes that for the Treaty obligations to be implemented the following elements need to be incorporated in any mechanism established.

1. Drafting and adoption of new policies

• In developing all Commission policies an impact assessment should be made on its potential impact on developing countries. Where there is a likelihood of these being incoherent with the development policies and practices of the EU, these should be explicitly noted.
• An inter-service group on coherence should be established with responsibility for monitoring draft policy proposals to identify and consider potential contradictions with the development co-operation policies of the EU. This group should be comprised of representatives of the Directorates General for Development, External Affairs, Trade and Enlargement, together with all those whose policies are involved, such as Agriculture, Fisheries, Enterprises, Environment, Taxes and Customs. In the first instance the inter-service group should seek agreement on changes to the proposed policies to resolve these potential contradictions before being adopted by the Commission for formal presentation to the Council and Parliament.
• In all cases where potential contradictions remain after formal adoption by the Commission, the statement of potential incoherence should be formally communicated to the Council and Parliament as part of the policy proposals as a whole. The Council and Parliament should ensure that any potential conflict of policy in question with the EU’s policy on development co-operation have been resolved by necessary amendments to that draft policy before it is adopted.

2. Incoherence in the implementation of existing policy

• A special Coherence Office should be established within the Directorate General for Development with responsibility for monitoring the coherence of policy and their application with the development co-operation objectives and policies of the EU. In particular this office should:

1. identify those areas of the EU’s legislation that is known or likely to have an impact on developing countries that is incoherent with EU development policy. The Coherence Office should also monitor the implementation of these policies.
2. investigate complaints from governments and civil society organisations of specific instances in which there has been an adverse impact of EU policies in developing countries;
3. monitor and identify areas of national policies of Member States that are in conflict with the development co-operation policies of the EU;
4. prepare recommendations for actions that could be taken to address issues of incoherence;
5. prepare an annual report of the Commission on coherence and consistency providing information on the work of the inter-service group and the Coherence Office including the areas of potential incoherence addressed, responses to complaints and any actions that have been take to seek resolutions to problems identified.

3. Joint monitoring procedures with developing countries

• Article 12 (Coherence of community policies and their impact on the implementation of the ACP-EC agreement) of the Lomé IV Convention has now been accepted as part of the subsequent co-operation agreement between the EU and ACP states. The Coherence Office should be responsible for ensuring that this Article is implemented. To this end the Coherence Office should ensure that the required notification is given to ACP states about any potential impact to their interests of policies and actions that have been adopted.
• The Commission should bring forward proposals for the inclusion of a similar Article in all future co-operation agreements that the EU negotiates with developing countries or groups of developing countries.

4. Review of current policies

Some areas of current EU policy are particularly prone to practices that are in contradiction to those of EU development co-operation policy. This is particularly the case with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

• The Council should request a Commission review of current policies and their implementation in order to identify areas that a re inherently inconsistent with co-operation policies, and to bring forward proposals on how changes could be made to these policies to ensure coherence and consistency as required under the Treaty.
• On the basis of the Commission’s reviews and proposals for policy changes special joint Council meeting should take place between the Development Council and the relevant Council.

Conclusion

Eurostep believes that these elements are essential to any mechanism established by the Commission, Council and Parliament for ensuring that the Coherence and Consistency articles in the Treaty of European Union are implemented. The Commission’s Directorate General for Development, and the Development Council have a primary role in making sure that the EU’s development co-operation objectives, policies and actions are not undermined by other policies and practices of the EU. However the overall responsibility to ensure compliance with the obligations of the Treaty in this area falls to the Commission and the Council as a whole. It is therefore necessary for each Directorate General, and every Council to take responsibility for ensuring that the area of policy and practice for which they are responsible are pursued in ways that are coherent and consistent with the EU’s development co-operation.

8 February 2000

Updated on 16 February 2000
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