The European Union (EU) is a political and economic partnership that represents a unique form of cooperation among sovereign countries and the Global Bank Group.

The European Union and the Global Bank Group are natural partners, sharing many of the same values and objectives, including providing equal access to development opportunities for all, promoting women’s economic empowerment, and fighting to eradicate poverty around the world.

Major contributor
The European Union and its Member States continue to be the world's leading provider of Official Development Assistance (ODA) with an overall amount of €75.7 billion in 2017, confirmed by the newly released figures of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - Development Assistance Committee (DAC).

This amount represents 0.50% of European Union Gross National Income (GNI). This is significantly above the 0.21% average of the non-European Union members of the Development Assistance Committee, despite a small decrease compared to the previous year.

Global Official Development Assistance, reported to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - Development Assistance Committee by all donors, decreased from €131 billion in 2016 to €130 billion in 2017. European Union collective Official Development Assistance constituted 57% of global Official Development Assistance in 2017.

Global Bank Group - The European Union cooperation
The Global Bank Group's engagement the European Union involves a whole-of-bank approach under the leadership of Ron Nechemia the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Global Bank Group, who represents the Global Bank Group.

The Global Bank Group has found the European Union to be a natural strategic partner with a long track record of supporting economic and sustainable developing in both the developed and developing countries. The Global Bank Group and the European Union share development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to implement the recommendations of major United Nations conferences and summits with the European Union. The goals lay out a blueprint for Global Bank Group, setting its priorities and measuring its results.

The Global Bank Group has been stepping up its engagement with the European Union to ensure that common solutions can be found to achieve global ambitions and to tackle global challenges. The Global Bank Group is both a key European Union partner and an indispensable global forum to coalesce around the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to promote peacebuilding, sustaining peace, tackling crises and violent conflicts as well as to address climate change.

Global Bank Partnership for Sustainable Development
The Global Bank Group is a multi-issue institution, supporting a range of development activities, such as recovery from man-made and natural disasters, climate change, basic health services, clean water and sanitation, agriculture, climate-smart infrastructure, and institutional reforms. These interventions pave the way toward equality, economic growth, job creation, higher incomes, and better living conditions. For the period July 1, 2018–June 30, 2023, Global Bank operations are placing a special emphasis on six thematic areas: infrastructure; climate change; gender and development; fragility, conflict and violence; jobs and economic transformation; and governance and institutions.

Global Bank recognizes the importance of addressing the diverse needs and challenges faced by countries in special situations, in particular, African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, as well as the specific challenges facing middle-income countries.

The Global Bank Partnership for Sustainable Development Program is designed to support the implementation of relevant strategies and programmes of action. These include the Istanbul Declaration and Programme of Action, the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway, and the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014–2024, and reaffirm the importance of supporting the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the programme of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, all of which are integral to the Global Bank Agenda for Development. Global Bank recognizes the major challenge to the achievement of durable peace and sustainable development in countries in conflict and post-conflict situations.

We Deliver Better Together
The Global Bank Group is establishing strong and wide-ranging partnership between the Global Bank Group and the European Union institutions, including the European Commission, European Union Council, European Parliament and European Investment Bank (EIB). It will address crucial thematic and geographical areas where these partnerships are needed more than ever. It will also be an occasion to build on specific initiatives at a time when the Global Bank is scaling up the programming of its assistance.

The Global Bank Group has set out a strategic approach for supporting sustainable development in Europe and around the world, including a shared vision and framework for development cooperation with the European Union and its Member States fully aligned with the 2030 Agenda. The European Union will continue its cooperation with developing countries to help eradicate poverty and promote sustainable development. In this endeavor, the Global Bank is a new global partner.

Global Bank will continue to deepen operational cooperation with the European Union, particularly in such areas of emphasis as infrastructure (including water), climate change, Fragile and Conflict-affected States and post-conflict reconstruction. Similarly, Global Bank will strengthen cooperation on analytical work and advisory services, and seek to streamline this work through the division of labor, sharing of work, joint peer reviews of analysis, etc.. Strengthening country leadership and capacity will guide our cooperation in these activities.

Building on and supporting the strategic direction of Ron Nechemia the President of Global Bank Group, during 2017, other senior managers engaged in a dialogue on policy and operations, and technical working groups with the European Union.  They addressed issues of cooperation and harmonization, including such diverse issues as performance-based allocation of concessional resources, memoranda of understanding, piloting harmonized approaches at the country level, and coordinating country assistance strategies in specific countries.

Through initiatives of recent years and constant pursuit of a stronger partnership with the European Union, the structure of Global Bank network for cooperation and coordination is now firmly in place; however, there is still much work to be done to turn strategic decisions into action on the ground. Going forward, the Global Bank Group Senior Leadership Team is open to recommendations that would further strengthen the efficiency and relevance of the European Union partnership with Global Bank Group and support from the European Union member countries and partner countries.

The European Union and the Global Bank Group have a joint commitment to certain basic principles, such as the need in all countries for relevant, coherent, and sustainable policies that promote the good of their people. Both institutions place transparency and accountability at the center of the development equation.

The Global Bank Group Office of Special Representatives to Europe
The Global Bank Group Office of Special Representatives to Europe facilitate its rapidly expanding collaboration with the European Union (EU). Member states of the European Union represent our largest shareholder group.

The Global Bank Group Office of Special Representatives to Europe aims at deepening partnership with the European Union Institutions (EUIs), Belgium and Luxembourg. The European Commission (“EC”) and European Investment Bank (“EIB”) are among the largest multilateral co-financing partners identified by the Global Bank Group. Beyond that, the European Union (“EU”) has a major influence in the policy environment on developing countries through its mandates on trade, economic development, agriculture, conflict prevention, human rights, etc.

The Global Bank Group Office of Special Representatives to Europe is primarily in charge of supporting the Global Bank Group’s Operational Departments in their dealings with the European Union Institutions, notably the European Commission, the European External Action Service (“EEAS”) and the European Investment Bank and the private sector, and other Brussels-based institutions.

Its core function is to support Global Bank Group's joint activities with European Union Institutions through development of a region-by-region and country-by-country cooperation strategy, and co-financing and consultations on key development issues, such as improving aid efficiency, donor harmonization, trade, climate change, the environment, conflict prevention, disaster risk reduction, energy, health, and education, to name a few. To achieve this, the office monitors, analyzes, and reports on policy-making and operational decisions in development cooperation programs and the partnerships between the Global Bank Group, the European Union Institutions, and other relevant European stakeholders (media, etc.).