Further reform of the EU’s development aid programme is essential if money is to get through to the world's poorest countries, a committee of peers has concluded.

The House of Lords EU committee criticised a lack of coherence between the EU's development initiatives and schemes such as the common agricultural policy - which effectively close the EU to farm produce from some developing countries.

The committee calls on the European Commission to bring together its policy and programming functions into a single development directorate.

While it welcomes moves towards the creation of a a "peace and security" budget, the committee goes on to warn "it is essential that development policy is not downgraded" and made subservient to the new common foreign and security policy.

The peers also call for a separate section in the EU budget "to safeguard development assistance for the poorest countries".

And in an appeal for more development aid overall the committee said the EU needed to increase the proportion of aid going to the poorest countries - even if it means "withstanding pressure" from accession states who may wish to direct aid to neighbouring countries.

Commenting on the report, committee chairman Lord Bowness said: "Since the late 1990s the Commission has made considerable improvements to the management and organisation of EU development aid.

"However, the commission needs to complete the reform programme so it can maximise its impact in the poorest countries."