The European Court of Auditors has strongly criticized the European Union's €5 billion aid fund for Africa, known as the EUTF. Established in 2015, the fund aimed to curb irregular migration and improve stability in Africa.
However, the auditors found that the aid was distributed too broadly and did not address the most pressing issues. Human rights violations were insufficiently tackled, despite available research reports highlighting these concerns.
For the first time, an external consulting firm was hired to monitor human rights in Libya, but their findings were not adequately assessed. The EU’s strategy also faced issues in the Sahel region, where projects were found to be non-operational or economically unviable.
The EUTF's broad distribution meant that funds were spread across 27 countries, diluting their impact. This approach has been criticized for not effectively targeting key areas of instability, irregular migration, and displacement.
The European Court of Auditors has called for a more focused use of migration-specific data and research to guide future aid distribution. The EU commission acknowledged the need for stronger procedures to address human rights concerns and aims to improve its future strategies through the Global Europe instrument.
Despite creating jobs and providing basic services to millions, the current approach has been deemed inadequate in solving the core issues the fund was designed to tackle.
