Dr. Federica Zardo has been invited by EuroMeSCo, the main network of research centres and think tanks in the Euro-Mediterranean area, to contribute a policy paper on the future of the EU Trust Fund for Africa.
Abstract of the paper
“Planning the Future of the EU Trust Fund for Africa”
Few European Union (EU) funds have gained as much visibility as the EU Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF). The EUTF was launched in 2015 as an emergency instrument to tackle the so-called EU migration crisis and pursue the priorities agreed during the summit in Valletta. Its geographic scope covered three “windows” – the Sahel and Lake Chad, the Horn of Africa, and the North of Africa.
The EUTF will end at the close of 2021 but, at the time of writing these lines, the EU and the member states are planning its future in the framework of the new Neighbourhood Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) and beyond. In June 2021, the EU finally approved the regulation establishing the NDICI, and the programming phase has officially started. It is in this framework that EU institutions are drawing lessons from the EUTF experience to streamline them in the new programmes targeting Africa and the Southern Neighbourhood more specifically.
