The European Commission
The European Union (EU), composed of the 27 member states and the European Commission (EC), is the world’s biggest aid donor. The Commission’s EuropeAid co-operation office manages EU external aid programmes and ensures that development assistance is delivered worldwide.
EC funding
EuropeAid awards grants to implement projects or activities that relate to the EU’s external aid programmes. There are two types of grant available:
Grants for actions which finance activities that fall under Commission-run programmes.
Operating grants to cover costs incurred by EU-based organisations that are carrying out work which matches EuropeAid’s interests.
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can receive funding from two sources:
The annual EC budget (also known as the ‘Community budget’), which covers cooperation with developing countries in all geographic regions and countries with economies in transition.
The European Development Fund (EDF), which covers co-operation with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries under the Cotonou Agreement.
NGOs usually receive funding from the Community budget as the EDF is mainly reserved for governments.
VSO and the EC
Since 2000, VSO has received support from the EC for over 30 grants in countries where we work including Gambia, Cameroon, Kazakhstan, Vanuatu, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Cambodia. Over the last five years, the EC is has become our largest donor of restricted programme funds.
We work with the EC in Brussels and with their delegations around the world and provide feedback for CONCORD (the largest European confederation of relief and development NGOs) to influence the EU’s development policy.
For more information, visit the EuropeAid website.
