The EU is widely recognised as a leading development actor.  It is fully committed to supporting the global effort to help the world’s poorest by meeting the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).      

The EU is the world’s largest donor, providing 57% of global official development assistance totalling 47 billion euros in 2006.  Nearly a fifth of this assistance is managed by the Commission, with the remainder provided by the member states bilaterally.

Europe’s development policy is supported by its work in other areas – including through helping developing countries to manage the risks of conflict and climate change, maximising the benefits of international trade and in managing migration.

Increasingly, European discussions are setting the global agenda for development.  For example in 2005 it established its global leadership in donor financing for the MDGs and reaffirmed this position in June 2008 in adopting an EU MDG Agenda for Action.  The EU has become a focal point for effective collective action and a forum for achieving consensus between key donors and fostering best practice amongst member states.  In September 2008, the EU played an instrumental role in the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness.    

The EU has delivered significant outcomes.  For example, European Commission funding, working alongside the Government of Bangladesh, has helped recruit 27,000 new teachers, created 12,000 new classrooms and distributed over 60 million textbooks.  Similarly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, EU funding helped the country stage its first presidential and legislative elections in 40 years, by distributing 1000 of ballot papers, providing 2000 troops and sending its largest ever election monitoring team.