Just so we are clear on the overarching figures, 20% of what Europe contributes comes from the Commission. When one talks about the EU generally, the Commission and the member states make up the largest donor group in the world, providing 55% of all overseas development assistance. There is an 80%-20% breakdown between the EU as an institution and the member states, including Ireland, as bilateral donors. That gives a sense of the power we have with regard to change and reform of the way the European Development Fund works.
The good news is that the EDF is increasing greatly, with €22 billion of the fund allocated for ACP countries under this tenth EDF. That is an extraordinary sum and reflects growing levels of gross national product within the eurozone and Europe generally. While I take on board the concerns Mr. De Rossa expressed about the ceiling, our experience to date of the EDF — this is a point of criticism with regard to the fund as an instrument — is that funds are often not disbursed. In that context, we would be less concerned about the ceiling and more concerned, as a bilateral donor and as one who contributes to the EDF as a member country, that we would increase its operational efficiency so that moneys allocated to the EDF for the benefit of the Cotonou countries would be disbursed. That is the most significant issue for us with regard to the fund.
With regard to how much we are giving, the good news is we are increasing the amount. The bad news, if that is how I should term it, is that we have no choice in that matter because of our wealth. It is an assessed contribution, not one we can voluntarily decide to decrease or increase. The contribution is based on the level of GNP, the wealth generated in this country. As Mr. De Rossa will be aware, because of the fantastically strong Government that has been provided for the past ten years, our contribution is increasing.
Mr. De Rossa's point on co-ordination is a significant one. We are very concerned about the interplay and co-ordination of EU and member state funding for development purposes. We are a signatory, through the OECD, of the Paris declaration on aid effectiveness. This is a significant issue. For the first time in living memory, the European Union particularly but also many of the developed countries within the OECD is making serious individual commitments to achieving the 0.7% target by 2012, as is Ireland. This will involve substantial increases in the level of ODA in the coming ten or 20 years. With that, there is a parallel concern that has existed for many years with regard to how effective aid can be.
The German Presidency, through its Minister for Economic Co-operation and Development, Ms Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, has expressed this to be one of the major priorities for her during that Presidency. She wants to see much greater co-ordination and effectiveness between the Commission and bilateral donors but also among the bilateral donors. Ireland has led this process in a practical way. We are part of a process on the ground, particularly in Zambia where we began what is called harmonisation in practice. This is where certain countries take the lead with regard to funding in a particular country. For example, if the country was Lesotho, we might take the lead with regard to health issues while the other donors present would in a sense submerge their desire to be leaders with regard to health issues in that country and would be placed under our leadership role. This is increasingly happening locally. We are also piloting such an initiative in Vietnam. The issue is about pooling funds and co-ordinating our action rather than having duplication or waste because several donors are working on their own account.
East Timor is a programme country for Irish Aid and we are very committed to helping it, notwithstanding its major difficulties in the past year or two. I am personally friendly with Mr. Ramos Horta, to whom I spoke quite recently. He has asked us for support, especially with civil and security issues concerning the law courts and their administration. We are delighted to be of assistance in this regard.
Will Mr. De Rossa refresh my memory on his last question? Did he express a concern that the Commission would not increase its funding while the member states did so?