Ms Celia Cranfield:

It is right that ODA will always be a limited source of funding and one of a number that partner countries look at when looking at how to make progress for themselves and their people. That is why we are concerned about the direction the EU's external action instruments might take. As Ms McKenna said, there is this global gateway which will be scaled up. That is what we expect and what von der Leyen has said and asked for. It is very much an investment-driven approach, which looks at the mutual benefits of aid, especially for the European economies. With this limited resource, we should not be looking at the kinds of instruments which potentially drive-up debt for highly indebted countries that do not have the fiscal space to invest in their own systems for people. Rather, we should be looking at grants, where they are needed most and will have most impact for those furthest behind, be that a country or a community within a country.