The European Development Fund (EDF) is the main instrument for providing Community aid for development cooperation in the ACP States and OCT. The 1957 Treaty of Rome made provision for its creation with a view to granting technical and financial assistance, initially to African countries which at that time were still colonised and with which some Member States had historical links.

Even though a heading has been reserved for the Fund in the Community budget since 1993 following a request by the European Parliament, the EDF does not yet come under the Community's general budget. It is funded by the Member States, is subject to its own financial rules and is managed by a specific committee. The aid granted to ACP States and OCTs will continue to be funded by the EDF, at least for the period 2008-2013.

Each EDF is concluded for a period of around five years. Since the conclusion of the first partnership convention in 1964, the EDF cycles have generally followed the partnership agreement/convention cycles.

The EDF consists of several instruments, including grants, risk capital and loans to the private sector. The development aid provided by the EDF forms part of a broader European framework. Within the European Union, the funds of the Community's general budget may be used for certain types of aid.

Within the tenth EDF, an increased share of the budget is devoted to regional programmes, thereby emphasising the importance of regional economic integration as the basic framework for national and local development. An innovation in the tenth EDF is the creation of "incentive amounts" for each country.

• ACP Countries: 21.966 M€ (17.766 M€ for national and regional indicative programmes; y 2.700 M€ to intra-ACP and intra-regional cooperation; 1.500 M€ to Investment Facilities)
• OCT Countries: 286 M€
• Commission: 430 M€ (support expenditure for programming and implementation)

The Commission shall implement EDF resources by any of the following ways:

• By decentralised management;
• By centralised management;
• By joint management with international organisations.

The Community provisional funding available for the programme is:

• 22.682,00 Million EUR (Global Budget)