EU NEIGHBOURS. European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen,on behalf of the European Union, and International Monetary Fund’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva concluded a new Financial Framework Partnership Agreement that will boost their cooperation to tackle key challenges including climate change, and help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The European Union is the IMF’s main partner in capacity development since 2016.
This new Agreement will strengthen, simplify and accelerate the conclusion of contractual arrangements for the numerous joint activities undertaken to support good economic governance, public finance management and domestic revenue mobilisation, institution building, as well as the wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Supporting macroeconomic and public finance institutions and policies in the EU partner countries has long been a common objective of the EU and IMF. Financial Framework Partnership Agreements facilitate this cooperation and stabilize the contractual terms of a long-term cooperation between the Commission and its key partners. The new Agreement will replace the one from 2017 and will allow both the Commission and the IMF to take full advantage of the novelties introduced in the 2018 EU Financial Regulation, such as increased simplification and bigger focus on results.
The EU is now the largest external contributor to IMF capacity development, including the IMF’s network of ten regional technical assistance centres, particularly in Africa, and support to almost all of the IMF’s thematic and country trust funds, as well as to a range of bilateral projects.
