Use of Country Systems for EU Development Cooperation: Can ‘Team Europe’ do better?

This Brief provides a summary of the main findings of the “Study on the use of Partner Countries’ Systems – difficulties encountered and recommendations for the future” commissioned by DG INTPA.

The study examines the extent to which EU Member States (MS) and the European Commission use partner country systems for the
implementation of their bilateral ODA.

The Brief is a useful reference on UCS as the European Commission shapes its programming of EU external cooperation for the period 2021-
2027, including in the context of “Team Europe Initiatives.”