Presidency offers an opportunity to help shape the future direction of EU development cooperation and humanitarian action, Dóchas to tell Oireachtas Committee
Ireland’s EU Presidency offers an opportunity to help shape the future direction of EU development cooperation and humanitarian action, at a time when the EU’s external action agenda and financing architecture will be shaped, according to Dóchas who will appear in front of the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs today.
In our Opening Statement we will say the Presidency of the Council of the European Union comes at a critical moment, and Ireland is well placed to champion a distinctive approach to EU external action grounded in human rights, multilateralism, solidarity, and international partnerships.
We will also note thatwe are concerned about the paradigm shift in terms of the EU’s approach to international partnerships.
In her opening statement Jane-Ann McKenna, Dóchas CEO will say:
“The proposed new Global Europe Instrument (GEI) for the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF), now contains a dual objective. It is now not only an instrument to foster partnerships that contribute to the sustainable development of partner countries, but also that contribute to the strategic interests of the Union. This signals a significant change in direction for the EU and International development.”
“Poverty reduction is no longer referenced in the objectives of the Global Europe Instrument. This does not align with Article 208 TFEU, which sets poverty reduction as the primary objective of EU development cooperation and frames it within the broader aim of sustainable development. Aid is now linked more explicitly to migration, trade and private investment. The instruments’ emphasis on flexibility, raises serious concerns about reduced predictability, accountability, transparency and policy coherence with EU commitments.”
The UN says more than 239 million people require humanitarian assistance globally, with over 117 million people forcibly displaced by conflict and violence.
Despite rising needs, development assistance is facing a downward spiral. The recently published OECD preliminary Official Development Assistance (ODA) data for 2025 shows a drop by 23.1% of ODA, in real terms, compared to 2024. This is the largest annual contraction recorded in the history of ODA, bringing ODA levels back to where they stood in 2015.
Jane-Ann McKenna will say:
“The EU – both its institutions and member states – is now the largest provider of ODA globally. However, there is a worrying trend that, for the third consecutive year, EU Member States have cut their aid spending (17 EU Member States cut their ODA.) These cuts will directly impact least developed countries, as well as fragile and conflict states.”
Dóchas is setting out a list of recommendations for the forthcoming EU Presidency:
1. Champion a values-based EU external action agenda including meaningful partnership with civil society.
2. Secure an ambitious and accountable Global Europe Instrument that protects ODA integrity, prioritises human development and fragile contexts, and strengthens democratic oversight and civil society participation. This includes:
● Safeguarding the €200.3 billion budget, or 10% of the total MFF for GEI
● Ringfencing €25 billion in humanitarian funding;
● Restoring explicit references to poverty reduction, in alignment with the European Union’s founding treaties;
● Ensuring 93% of the GEI goes to ODA, with human development at its core;
● Reinstating spending targets, including dedicated funding for civil society organisations; and for Fragile and conflict affected states.
3. Place conflict prevention, peacebuilding, principled humanitarian action, and respect for international law at the centre of the EU’s response to global fragility and instability.
4. Place food security and nutrition as strategic EU priorities through renewed political leadership, sustainable financing, and support for resilient and equitable food systems.
And lastly, as COP 31 takes place during Ireland’s Presidency, we should,
5. Advance a just and equitable EU climate agenda by increasing adaptation and loss-and-damage finance, supporting a fair transition away from fossil fuels, and prioritising the needs of vulnerable communities.