The Public Organs
As of 1998, the Spanish development cooperation is regulated by a law which is considered to be quite progressive in the European context. The Law of 1998 on International Development Cooperation assigns to the Secretariat of State for International Cooperation (SECI) the role of strategy development and coordination. SECI is part of the Foreign Ministry and, besides its own cabinet, has two branches – the brain and the muscle, to put it roughly.
The Directorate for Planning and Evaluation – ‘the brain’ – elaborates country strategy, sector strategies and other planning documents, and conducts evaluations. This unit has recently been upgraded to Directorate General and has increased its staff significantly.
The Spanish Development Agency (AECI) – ‘the muscle’ – is divided in geographic areas of responsibility and is awaiting major reform. AECI is being represented in developing countries by Technical Cooperation Offices (TCO).
There are a number of important planning documents at the national level:
- The Master Plan (Plan Director) is being drafted every four years in a consultative process.
- An annual Action Plan (PACI), , lays out the detailed planning per country and sector. Since 2004, the PACIs have been given a thematic focus.
- The Follow-up report (PACI seguimiento) specifies the action taken and funds disbursed, retrospectively.
- For priority countries Country Strategy Papers are drafted. For Special Attention countries Special Action Plans are drafted.
There are a number of evaluations published since 2004. However, the new generation of evaluations that have been promised, concerning sector programmes such as the environmental ARAURACIA and the Microcredits Fund as well as the development cooperation with Morocco, are still awaiting to be presented to the public.
The Secretary of State reports to the Parliamentary Commission for International Development in the Congress. The proceedings are accessible to the public. Lately there have been, amongst others, appearances of, for example:
- Miguel Angel Moratinos, Foreign Minister, laying out the programme of his government.
- Leire Pajin, State Secretary, giving a rundown of achievements after two years in office.
- Juan Pablo de la Iglesia, General Secretary of AECI, explaining the new financing mechanism for NGOs.
The Law of 1998 creates a Council for Development Cooperation. It is a consultative body that assembles policy makers, academics and non-governmental institutions. Its composition and mandate has been changed significantly in a regulation of 2004. It lately gave its opinion on the planning process, and on the Action Plan for 2007. Of imminent importance, although poorly communicated, is its report of the working groups on coherence. From 2006, this report is to be drafted annually.
There are two coordinating commissions. Given the institutional competition and the attitudes of non-cooperation between both central ministries and between central government and regions their work is demanding. Accordingly, no information on its proceedings is published:
- Comisión
Interministerial de Cooperación Internacional (Inter-Ministerial
International Cooperation Commission)
- Comisión
Interterritorial de Cooperación para el Desarrollo (Inter-Territorial
Development Cooperation Comisión)
Spain is part of a number of multilateral bodies working on International Development Cooperation:
- The European Commission implements just over a quarter of the Spanish development aid.
- The OECD Development Assistance Committee is a voluntary mechanism of developed countries to set standards for good practices and statistical classification in aid.
- The membership in international financial institutions is coordinated by the Ministry of Economy. Spain shares a directorate seat in the World Bank with Venezuela and the Central American countries, and a Spanish national is one of the vice-presidents.
- Spain is member of a number of multilateral bodies, working on poverty reduction and contributes to their budgets. Spain’s multilateral engagement has been discussed by Intermón Oxfam’s aid report 2006.