European Development Fund

The European Development Fund (EDF) was the main instrument for European Union (EU) aid for development cooperation in Africa, the Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP Group) countries and the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT).

Usually lasting 6 years, each EDF lays out EU assistance to both individual countries and regions as a whole.

[2] The perceived advantages included:[1] The perceived disadvantages were that:[1] In 2005, the EU and its Member States agreed to achieve a collective level of ODA of 0.7% of GNI by 2015 and an interim target of 0.56% by 2010, with differentiated intermediate targets for those EU Member States which had recently joined the Union.

Concord, the European confederation for relief and development, described the pledge as "vague and non-binding" and said 2020 should be the new deadline.

[9] Independent research by the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM), a think tank based in Maastricht (The Netherlands), shows that the EU has ensured the effective translation into practice of two key policy commitments of the 'Agenda for Change' – namely a more focused strategy for less developed countries (LDCs) and low-income countries (LICs), and the concentration of EU aid on a limited number of sectors and policy priorities.

Their research found that the high degree of compliance was achieved "through top-level support and tight control from headquarters".