The European Commission has adopted an ambitious action plan for EU action to speed up progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In 2009, the EU aid level has slightly decreased and amounted €49bn. This corresponds to 0.42% of EU GNI, making the EU still far from meeting the intermediate collective target of 0,56% GNI by 2010, before reaching 0.7% EU GNI by 2015.

The EU remains the most generous global donor, providing over half of global aid. The Commission proposes to Member States a number of actions in support of MDGs. They aim at increasing the level of aid while making aid more efficient and focused on those countries and sectors most in need. The action plan sets out a possible EU position ahead of the UN Summit on the Millenium Development Goals this September.

The EU Action Plan proposes ways to ensure increase of the aid by Member States and supports the need for innovative sources of financing. It also addresses the quality of aid: Commission wants to make aid more effective, by sharing labour and responsibilities within the EU, and making sure there are no "aid orphan" countries. The Commission will also ensure that all its policies are coherent with development goals.

The action plan consists of 12 points.

• Member States will be asked to establish realistic, verifiable annual action plans for reaching individual targets and publish the first plans before September 2010 The European Council should lead a process of peer review among Member States. The Action Plan also calls for fair international burden-sharing with other international donors to raise their level of ambition;
• Increase of aid effectiveness by better coordinating national aid programmes at EU level. This means better value for money and could save around €3 to €6 billion yearly. The EU plan for Haiti reconstruction is a good example. Aid effectiveness should also be promoted at international level;
• Target fragile states and those most off-track countries from the MDGs;
• Target the most off-track MDGs, through sectoral measures on Gender, Health, Education and Food security;
• Foster ownership of MDGs in developing countries by working in partnerships, such as the EU-Africa Joint Strategy;
• Ensure that other EU policies such as security, trade, migration, food security and climate change work in coherence for development goals;
• Mobilise domestic resources through better taxation in developing countries. In parallel, promote the principles of good governance in tax matters and support fight against tax evasion at international level;
• Strengthen regional integration and trade for growth and jobs;
• Support initiatives on innovative financing with high revenue potential and ensure they benefit the poorest ;
• Use the EU's €2.4bn a year "fast-start" funding commitment in Copenhagen for climate change as a test for aid effectiveness and coherence.
• Launch a new plan to address and intervene better in conflict situations and make development and security work better together;
• Support a stronger weight of developing countries in the international governance architecture, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and the UN reform for more effective agencies.