No role for export credits in the EU’s development finance

(Counter Balance, Brussels, 13 March 2024) The latest report from Counter Balance titled "No role for export credits in the EU’s development finance" sheds light on the growing presence of Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) in the financing landscape of various EU policy proposals, ranging from development finance to critical raw materials. The report examines recent proposals for greater coordination between export credit and development finance, in particular through initiatives such as the EU's Global Gateway strategy. It highlights significant concerns about suitability of such coordination for development objectives, particularly in the absence of binding human rights and environmental standards, ands weak rules on transparency, due diligence and accountability of ECAs as well as Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). Alexandra Gerasimcikova, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Counter Balance, said: "This is another example of the EU's misuse of public development finance to support the European private sector , continuing a well-trodden neo-colonial path in its global South relations. This approach encourages asymmetrical dependencies, where the only concern is to open up new markets for European capital. We need long-term, sustainable financing to support equitable socio-economic transformation globally, not profits of European corporations. ”