EU plans to slash 80 development offices abroad amid refocus

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - BRUSSELS — The European Commission's department for international partnerships is undergoing a strategic downsizing of its worldwide offices in a shift of focus under the new mandate of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) is planning slashing more than four in five of its hubs worldwide — reducing from around 100 delegations to 18 hubs — according to a document seen by Euronews.

The internal document from the European Commission gives the reasoning behind the decision taken and implementation details, without giving a timeline for the proposed cuts.

Euronews asked the European Commission for comment, without receiving a reply at the time of publication.

“The current set-up is not fit for the purpose of delivering on Global Gateway and its investment packages, and developing portfolio linked to the growing importance of the external dimension of EU policies and its impact on the partner countries (Green Deal, migration, security,” the document cites among key reasons for the changes.

Two sources told Euronews that the switch is designed to concentrate decision-making in Brussels rather than in its regional branches.

Budget constraints and changing geopolitical priorities are touted as reasons for the Commission to centralise the DG to bring it more under the control of headquarters in Brussels, the sources said.

“In some countries where the portfolio and the perspectives do not require a full section, no INTPA staff would be deployed and operations would be piloted from the relevant INTPA Budget Implementation Hub,” the document said.

The directorate general for international partnership (DG INTPA) — currently under the leadership of the Czech Commissioner Jozef Síkela — is responsible for formulating the EU’s international partnerships and development policies. Roughly 25 years ago, the European Commission delegated the DG’s work to offices in around 100 hubs worldwide.

But INTPA's work abroad has “basically disappeared” according to one of the sources, who said that there is now a change of focus from cooperation and local development, towards fostering trade relations and business activities.

"It is essential to move to portfolios that are more strategic and less fragmented and an optimised resource allocation across multiple countries," the document said.

"The current INTPA operating model is based on the de-concentration process of 25 years ago, whereby INTPA staff are distributed across 'cooperation sections' within 100 Delegation worldwide," according to the document, adding: "This model no longer meets the needs for increased strategic focus and operation agility."

The DG handles the EU's Global Gateway, a European strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport sectors and to strengthen health, education and research systems across the world, for which €300 billion of investments for sustainable projects has been allocated for the period 2021-2027.

The drastic reforms would reduce worldwide hubs to 18 strategic hubs. Those offices are located in Africa, Asia and Latin America/Caribbean, including in some African countries where a strategic presence for migration management has been established. For instance, INTPA will maintain its offices in Ghana, Senegal, and Ethiopia, with a particular emphasis on migration, according to the document. These countries are among the most common nationalities of asylum seekers arriving in Europe via irregular routes.

Another drastic change for the division touted in the document is for its activities to be placed under the management of the European External Action Services (EEAS), the EU delegation offices under the leadership of the EU top diplomat, the ex-Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. — Euronews