EU: Partners

The European Union (EU) is the largest donor of external assistance in the world, and the European Commission (EC) spending makes up roughly ten per cent of world Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) (EUR 9.7 billion committed and EUR 7.7 billion paid by the EC in 2001).

The ECs approach to the allocation of aid recognises that particular attention must be paid to the situation of the "Least Developed" and other "Low Income Countries". EC development co-operation programmes with Asia have focused on the poorest countries in the region since their beginning, and on the poorest groups within the populations of these countries.

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