A roundtable was held at Sida in Stockholm, Sweden on the 31 March. Participants attended from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sida and Sadev (Swedish Agency for Development Evaluation) as well as from Concord Sweden.
After an introduction of the WECA project participants engaged in discussions on various issues guided by the topics of future perspectives of development at EU level, EC as a donor and the challenges of implementation, the practice of accountability & ownership. The implications of the Lisbon Treaty and the set up of the Common External Service (EASS) proved to be an interesting topic and the importance to keep a strong compentency on development questions in the partner country delegations was underlined. On the issue of the Code of Conduct it was pointed out that the role of the EC in enhancing aid effectiveness stands before the challenge of avoiding to add an additional, hampering, layer to the coordination. The question of how to achieve ownership in practice was also highlighted including its role in the Division of Labour.
The participants mentioned the usefulness of the discussions in the light of the upcoming Swedish EU Presidency next year. They also expressed their interest in the outcome of the WECA project and offered their views on the future of the process.
List of participants: .doc | .pdf
Comment of Patrick Rabe, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Division for Global Development.
Comment of Peter Sorbom, EU policy Officer at Concord Sweden.
Comment of Ulrika Grandin, Desk Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Departments for Multilateral Cooperation
Comment of Jan Robberts, Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Departments for Multilateral Development Cooperation.
Filed under: Roundtables
