Africa-EU Alliance:Strengthening technical and functional skills of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), National Parliaments and Civil Society for the control of public finances in the PALOP and Timor-Leste

Project for Strengthening technical and functional skills of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), National Parliaments and Civil Society for the control of public finances in the PALOP and Timor-Leste

Background:

The European Union promotes South-South cooperation among the six Portuguese-speaking countries from the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group. Known collectively as PALOP-TL, the group is composed of five African countries using Portuguese as their official language (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé e Principe) and Timor-Leste, in the South-Western Pacific. The PALOP Group is one of the oldest and most cohesive ACP groupings. The five African countries began cooperating in the 1970s. Their longstanding cooperation covers now a large spectrum of themes including cultural, economic, social, and political components. Timor-Leste became the sixth member of the group in 2007. The EU has supported the group since 1992, focusing on issues like economic governance, public services, rule of law, democratisation and human rights.

This collaboration is based on the Cotonou Agreement and financed through the European Development Fund (EDF). Under the 10th EDF, the PALOP-TL allocation was of EUR 33.1 million. The EU support has prioritised the broader good governance field including economic governance, public services, rule of Law, democratisation and human rights. The coordination of the programme is currently managed by the National Authorising Officer of Mozambique.

The programming for the cooperation between the EU and PALOP-TL under the 11th EDF (2014-2020) is detailed in the Regional Indicative Programme for PALOP and Timor Leste which foresees an initial envelope of €30 million and matches the new priorities and the revised governance structure of the programme agreed by the PALOP-TL countries and the European Union representatives during the annual ministerial meeting held in Luanda (Angola) in March 2014.