Europäischer Rechnungshof - European Court of Auditors
Press invitation: How does the EU support trade in the world’s least developed countries?
- Online press briefing under embargo on 16 September at 10.00 CEST (RSVP)
- Publication the same day at 17.00 CEST
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) would like to invite you to an online press briefing on its upcoming special report on how EU money is used to address the trade needs of the least developed countries. It will be held in English and under embargo at 10.00 a.m. CEST on Tuesday 16 September.
The purpose of the briefing is to provide you with a detailed overview of the audit, and to put its conclusions and recommendations into context. It will also give you a chance to discuss the report with ECA Member Bettina Jakobsen and representatives of the audit team.
RSVP: Please let us know by 1.00 p.m. on Monday 15 September whether you intend to take part in the virtual briefing; we will then send you detailed instructions on how to connect.
To allow for an informed discussion, confirmed participants can receive an embargoed copy of the report and press release upon request ahead of the briefing. Both documents will be published on the ECA’s website on 16 September at 5.00 p.m. CEST.
Background
The Aid for Trade initiative was initially launched at the World Trade Organization in December 2005 and is “about helping developing countries, in particular the least developed, to build the trade capacity and infrastructure they need to benefit from trade opening”. In 2007, the EU adopted its own Aid for Trade strategy, which was updated in 2017. Among other things, it aimed to progressively increase the share of joint EU and member state Aid for Trade directed towards the least developed countries to 25 % by 2030.
The audit assessed whether the European Commission effectively targeted, implemented, and monitored the EU Aid for Trade provided to the world’s least developed countries. It covered the period from 2017 to 2024 and included a review of nine projects in four countries (Angola, Cambodia, Malawi and Rwanda), which the auditors visited on the spot.
Press contact
ECA press office: press@eca.europa.eu