3.3 The background to joint implementation
The European Consensus on Development sets out the commitment that the EU and its Member States have made to supporting partner countries through joint implementation whenever appropriate (see also previous sections).
The 2016 Council Conclusions on stepping up joint programming called on Commission departments and the EEAS to continue promoting joint implementation activities71 funded by the EU and its Member States:
10. Efforts to reduce fragmentation and promote coherence and synergies between the EU and the Member States should also be part of the implementation phase. The Council therefore calls on the Commission services and the EEAS to continue promoting EU and Member States-financed joint implementation activities, which also contributes to increasing the visibility of the EU and its Member States on the ground, for example through co-financing and delegated cooperation, paying particular attention to development actors from the EU and the Member States. Cooperation between Member States development actors should also be encouraged in the framework of joint implementation.
In 2016, an evaluation commissioned by DG INTPA recommended that, among the various financial modalities for joint implementation, delegated cooperation should be used strategically to achieve impact and enhance development effectiveness. It highlighted that delegated cooperation should be more ‘explicitly geared towards strengthening the partnership between the EU and the Member States’ (recommendation 3) and that ‘more consideration should be given to aspects that are important to partner countries such as systems alignment and ownership’ (recommendation 7)72.
In November 2016, the Practitioners’ Network for European Development Cooperation (PN)73 issued a Declaration on joint implementation and, in July 2017, the Views and Suggestions Note # 4 on the definition of joint implementation. The Declaration stated: ‘The PN considers that joint implementation refers to the combined effort of the European Commission, EU Delegations, Member States and other European countries, including their respective implementing agencies and development financial institutions, to address sustainable development challenges and to achieve joint objectives in the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda74.
In the 2019 Financial Framework Partnership Agreement (FFPA) between the European Commission and Member State Organisations, the Member States and the Commission ‘confirm[ed] their commitment to working together better in a spirit of partnership, to show coherent and consistent engagement and to enhance joint implementation, when appropriate [...]’75.
71 Council conclusions 8831/16
72 https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/policies/monitoring-and-evaluation/strategic-evaluation-reports-deprecated/strategic-evaluation-eu-aid-delivery-mechanism-delegated-cooperation-2007-2014_en
73 See PN website: https://www.dev-practitioners.eu/
74 https://www.dev-practitioners.eu/media/event-documents/Joint_Implementation_PN_definition_May_2017.pdf
75 C(2019) 3709 final