How Serious Is the EU on Aid Fragmentation

The EU’s 2007 Code of Conduct on Complementarity and Division of Labour (DoL) seeks to improve the way the EU member states and institutions work together on development cooperation. This agreement is the cornerstone of the EU’s efforts to reduce aid fragmentation. Mackie uses available data to assess the EU’s efforts to implement the Code. Focussing on three particular methods to reduce fragmentation: (i) pooling of aid through common mechanisms, (ii) concentration by reducing the number of partner countries, and (iii) coordination and complementarity of donor support in one country, he concludes that overall progress on the Code is poor. However, there is a slow but detectable trend of the EU institutions managing an increasing proportion of collective EU aid over the past dozen years.