In preparing for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), that is the EU budget for the years 2021-2027, the European Commission has proposed to integrate 11 existing financial instruments in the realm of external affairs into a unified Neighbourhood, Development, and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI).
With this proposal, the European Commission hopes to both simplify its spending on external action and make it more effective. The commentary – written by Loes Debuysere und Steven Blockmans of the CEPS - Centre for European Policy Studies – discusses, if the new instrument can overcome the traditional budgetary fragmentation and overlap and can be also an instrument to facilitate the Union’s ‘integrated approach’ as set forth by the EU Global Strategy to external conflict and crisis.
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