Dissemination Seminar: Evaluation of the EU Support to the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption in Partner Countries

On December 12 in Brussels a dissemination seminar took place on the evaluation of the European Union support to the Rule of Law (RoL) and Anti-Corruption (AC) in partner countries in the period 2010-2021. The goal of the event was to present the key findings, conclusions and recommendations of the evaluation.

The evaluation team of Particip GmbH presented the key findings. Some of them are summarised below:

1. The EU managed to advance the RoL agenda, including in restrictive contexts and in fragile states, but has been much less visible and successful in fighting corruption.
2. The EU has missed major opportunities to integrate RoL/AC concerns in other policy domains and sectors and to connect these RoL/AC agendas with practical problems and expectations of citizens.
3. In order to enhance impact, the EU needs to refine its response approaches, analytical tools, methods of work, as well as reconsider its strategies to build effective partnerships and alliances.

The evaluators concluded that EU policies and strategic frameworks are clear and coherent for the RoL agenda, but the EU still lacks clear and comprehensive frameworks to address corruption as a systemic and cross-cutting issue. Furthermore, limited attention was given to applying a RoL/AC perspective to sector interventions and other relevant policy areas. The EU was effective in finding common ground with partners to engage in RoL, and its interventions had positive and dynamic effects, but sustainable outcomes are still limited.

After lively discussions and presentation of Vietnam and Myanmar case studies, the evaluation team presented its recommendations. All of them are realistic, applicable to all countries and form a package, which the EU should later prioritise. One important recommendation is that the EU assumes a global leadership in the promotion of Rule of Law and the fight against corruption and elaborates a unified and comprehensive anti-corruption framework. The EU should also foster a combined and coherent approach to address RoL and AC challenges, work towards a “shared ownership approach” and apply the Team Europe spirit in its future support.

Link to the evaluation: https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/publications/evaluation-european-union-support-rule-law-and-anticorruption-partner-countries-2010-2021_en