European Aid for Trade
Aid for Trade is assistance provided to support partner countries' efforts to develop economic capacities and expand their trade as leverage for growth and poverty reduction. Globally, the EU and its Member States are the biggest provider of Aid for Trade. In 2015 alone, EU commitments amounted to a record €13 billion per year.
Between 2006 and 2015, most of European Aid for Trade commitments were concentrated in the categories trade-related infrastructure and building productive capacity. By 2015, these two categories represented 97% of the total, with respectively €6.6 billion (50% of the grant total) and €6.2 billion (47% of the total). Whereas the EU has been focusing on agriculture, transport and storage and trade policy, EU Member States were mainly involved in energy but also in banking and financial services and agriculture.
Revised EU Aid for Trade Strategy 2017
In November 2017, the European Commission set out a renewed vision on how to help developing countries create more and better jobs through trade and investment. The updated "Aid for Trade" strategy builds on the past ten years of EU Aid for Trade assistance and aims to modernise EU support to partner countries.
The new Communication proposes to better combine and coordinate development finance tools of aid for trade, both at European and national level and seeks to improve synergies with other instruments, such as EU trade agreements or the EU's innovative External Investment Plan. It further aims at strengthening social and environmental sustainability, together with inclusive economic growth. This shall be done through increased stakeholder-engagement, including a structured dialogue with the private sector, civil society and local authorities.
Aid for Trade and Infrastructure
Whilst the new Communication acknowledges that quality infrastructure is an important area for EU Aid for Trade to address supply-side constraints and non-tariff barriers, EIC criticises that there is no clear commitment yet for financing physical infrastructure works. The Communication currently lists only the regulatory and operational aspects of standardisation, accreditation, conformity assessment and market surveillance.
EIC calls on the EU and its Member States to pay proper attention to the fact that economic growth implies the need for an appropriate transport infrastructure. This includes roadways, railways, ports, waterways and airports as well as local public transport systems. In remote rural areas, simple roads or tracks might be sufficient, whilst in medium-sized or large towns or cities with an extensive national, regional or international division of labour all-season roads are needed. It is vital that the network of national roads is supplemented by air, rail and possibly maritime transport links.