Partnership, not parenthood as a basis for Europe’s relations with a new Egypt
As EU High Representative Catherine Ashton visits Cairo this week, both Europe and Egypt will think about how they can mould a new relationship. “The EU must in turn create a new framework for cooperation with the country, but the last thing that Egyptians want is to be told what to do” warns Anthony Zielicki in a guest contribution on the Talking Points blog. Zielicki points out four measures the EU could take to support transition in the Arab world’s most populous state and establish a mutually beneficial relationship, “presenting itself as a partner as opposed to a parent”.

Cyprus and the world: how to make a difference?
Holding the rotating EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2012, Cyprus is chairing the Council’s Working Parties on Development Cooperation and ACP in this period. An ECDPM Briefing Note targeting Cypriot policy-makers and NGOs gives an overview of opportunities for them to engage in EU development cooperation and outlines possibilities for making a difference in this field. Key areas for Cypriot action are the on-going budget negotiations, aid effectiveness and policy coherence for development. Others interested in the state of affairs of EU development policy modernisation will also find this paper a useful orientation tool.

Post-2015 agenda needs to focus more on means, not just goals
A new report assessing progress in Africa towards the Millennium Development Goals finds that the MDGs have focused too much on development outcomes and too little on the means and processes to achieve the goals. Thus “the post-2015 agenda must provide broad indications of development enablers while taking note of country and regional specificities” the report, endorsed at the African Union Summit this week, underlines. Important enablers for the development of African countries include: enhanced peace and security, good governance, human rights, and a credible participatory process. Economic transformation and inclusive growth must underpin sustainable human and social development, the report concludes. “These efforts must, however, not detract Africa countries from the focus on making continued progress toward achieving goals by the 2015 target date”.

Donors should take the back seat in fragile states
The “New Deal for engagement in fragile states”, an outcome of last year’s High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, is a shared commitment to correct the trajectories of national and international efforts for peacebuilding and statebuilding. Fragile states led on the development of this policy document. Thus, when it comes to implementation of the New Deal donors should to take more of a back seat and let governments of affected countries themselves have the lead role, a new briefing paper by the International Peace Institute finds. The report also suggests that the global indicators that will track progress against the New Deal world wide should be accompanied by country-specific indicators tailored to individual country contexts.

How close are you to your government?
Comparing global indicators on localization and decentralization a new World Bank paper ranks countries based on their governments’ closeness to its people. It looks into various dimensions of decentralization and provides “an assessment of the impact of the silent revolution of the last three decades on moving governments closer to people to establish fair, accountable, incorruptible and responsive governance”. Data of the closeness index could have predicted the Arab Spring, a consequence of popular dissatisfaction with governance, the author of the paper underlines.

Additional Articles in the Weekly Compass-Extended Version

• “MDGs 2.0: What Goals, Targets and Timeframe?” is Jonathan Karver’s, Charles Kenny’s, and Andy Sumner’s newest contribution to the post-2015 debate.
• The geography of global value chains is shifting and has implications for developing countries and trade policy, says a new World Economic Forum report.  
• “Does Aid for Trade Enhance Export Performance?” asks an article in latest issue of The World Economy. 
• To match reforms to institutional realities the World Bank designed a framework for assessing social service delivery reform strategies in developing countries.
• “Transparency in Corporate Reporting: Assessing the World’s Largest Companies” was just published by Transparency International and Tax Research UK released “Country-by-country reporting accounting for globalisation locally.”
• Strengthening public financial management in post-conflict countries is not easy, a post on an IMF blog explain what works and what can be improved
• Will the Arab risings yield democracy, dictatorship or disorder? A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit knows the answer.
• A new papers by FRIDE focuses on the role Spain could play in framing EU policies towards North Africa.