There is hardly a developing or transition economy in which the World Bank Group and the European Union do not work together to provide cohesive support. As such, our partnership often delivers unique, game-changing development outcomes and global public goods that would otherwise not be achievable.
A few examples of such transformational projects:
- On Climate Action, the WBG and European Commission are key allies in the global push for carbon pricing. The EC is by far the largest contributor to our Partnership for Market Readiness, which aims to set up market-based carbon-pricing and -trading mechanisms across the globe, modeled on the template of the EU Emissions Trading System.
- Within Europe & its Neighbourhood, our partnership is strong on absorption of EU funds in new member states; competitiveness, social protection and governance in a number of southern eurozone countries; Roma integration; a review of the EU-Turkey Customs Union; and cooperation in the Western Balkans.
- The Central Asia-South Asia Electricity Transmission Project (CASA 1000) establishes an electricity corridor between the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, generating valuable foreign exchange revenues to the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, alleviating electricity shortages in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and boosting regional integration.
- Within the overarching Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) framework, we jointly focus on improving access to energy in fragile and conflict-affected situations (mostly in sub-Saharan Africa), as a catalyst for broader-ranging economic and social transformations.
- Through IFC’s Trade Facilitation Support Program, the European Commission supports developing countries’ reform efforts for compliance with the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement reached in December 2013 in Bali.
- The EC’s renewed focus on Private Sector Development has fostered closer cooperation with IFC on competitive industries and the investment climate (e.g. the MENA SME Facility and the Global Index Insurance Facility).
- On Fragility, the EC was one of the first donors to support the WBG/UN-led Global Facility on Employment Creation in Fragile Situations, and a key contributor ($452M to date) to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund. The bulk of the value-added of our partnership in Fragile and Conflict-affected Situations (FCS) manifests itself through coordination on the ground, led on our side by the Nairobi Hub.
