After independence, energy and food subsidies became a cornerstone of the social contracts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. Governments spent heavily to reduce poverty and strengthen their own legitimacy. However, as government rents faded, subsidy spending became...

The main objectives of this evaluation is to provide an overall independent and accountable assessment of the European Commission’s cooperation relations with Thailand during the 1997-2007 period, to identify lessons learnt from past cooperation and thus to assist the implementation of the...

The overall purpose of this evaluation is to ensure accountability for the use of allocated resources as well as to promote a lesson-learning culture in European Commission (EC) development cooperation. The main specific objectives of the evaluation were: •to provide the relevant external...