The European Union and its member countries represent the largest source of Official Development
Assistance on a global scale (OECD-DAC). In 2017, the European Union embraced the sustainable
development goals of the 2030 Agenda and placed them at the helm of its cooperation efforts through
the “New European Consensus on Development,” which is a strategic framework for both EU
institutions and member countries.
In addition, the ‘European Union has also developed its priorities for the EU-Egypt Partnerships 2017-2027, which pay particular attention to strengthening cooperation, guided by Egypt’s “Vision 2030” sustainable development strategy, and intent on promoting common interests, ensuring long-term stability, and sustainable development on both sides of the Mediterranean.
Development cooperation is a pillar of the European Union and the financial instruments it uses are
managed by three Directorates General of the Commission, in synergy with the External Action Service (EEAS): DEVCO, NEAR and ECHO. Art. 6 of Law 125/2014 traces a two-way relationship between the Italian Cooperation system and the European Union: on the one hand, “Italy participates in the definition of the European Union’s development aid policy, contributes to the European Union’s budget and funds and harmonizes its own guidelines and programming lines with those of the European Union, encouraging the implementation of joint projects,” and on the other hand, “Italy
contributes to the execution of European development aid programs, also by participating in indirect
centralized management, usually through the Agency.”
In May 2018, the Agency completed the process of accreditation as a qualified organization for indirect management of European funding, passing the pillar-assessment verification. Since that time, AICS has taken full ownership of delegated cooperation initiatives The term “delegated cooperation” is used in the framework of the “EU Code of Conduct on Division of Labour in Development Policy” to refer to a management mode that allows the European Commission to delegate funds to a Member State for the implementation of cooperation programs following the signing of appropriate Delegation or Contribution Agreements and, in turn, to member states to transfer resources to the Commission itself through the signing of Transfer Agreements, all with the aim of fostering greater concentration and effectiveness of aid in those partner countries and sectors where the added value of a specific donor is most evident, with a view to reciprocity and maximization of aid effectiveness.
From 2012 to the present, delegated cooperation has consolidated to the point of being an indispensable element of Italian cooperation. Italy has been among the top four executing member states of EU cooperation, with clear positive returns for the Italian development cooperation system as a whole, both in terms of volumes of resources available for cooperation interventions and in terms of political visibility: within the EU itself, with partner countries and with other donors.
Within the framework of Joint Programming, following up on what was positively achieved through
the Delegated Cooperation Program “EU-Joint Rural Development Program (EU JRDP)”, managed by the Embassy of Italy Cairo for a total of 21. 9 million with the technical support of AICS, and concluded in an extremely positive way during 2021, the AICS Cairo Headquarters has progressively expanded, also thanks to the Delegated Cooperation Initiatives Support Program fully financed by AICS, its package of programs financed for the channel of European funds under indirect management.
As of today, in fact, the AICS Cairo Headquarters manages seven delegated cooperation programs with a total value of €82 million, and actively works with the European Delegation in Egypt, the main
partners in the area, and the Italian system to define new interventions.