On September 8^th the European Commission released its Communication on Aid Effectiveness. The Communication is a proposal for the EU common position on the aid effectiveness agenda for the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness at Busan on November 29 – 1 December this year.

The Communication proposes ‘transparent, harmonised and aligned partnerships’ be one of four main areas of focus, stating that ‘donors should reaffirm their commitment to publically disclose regular, detailed and timely information on aid volumes, conditions and the results of development expenditure.

In Busan donors should commit to i) develop internal systems which  allow for multi-year budgeting of development cooperation, ii) adapt a global reporting standard based on IATI and the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Creditor Reporting System, iii) develop and implement mechanisms which align aid data standards with partner countries’ budget classifications and iv) disclose all country-specific information of the DAC forward spending exercise, including more detailed information at sector level. Partner country commitments on transparency are integral parts of democratic ownership and accountability commitments.

In Busan, the EU should send a strong political message on EU leadership on transparency by

launching an ‘EU Transparency Guarantee’ based on the existing transparency commitments

adopted in the EU Operational Framework on Aid Effectiveness.’

p.5 Proposal for the EU Common Position for the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, Busan.