Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-02-28-Speech-3-162"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20010228.9.3-162"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, I should like to begin by congratulating Mr Gemelli on having had his report adopted unanimously by the Committee on Development and Cooperation. It deserves the same accolade from the House.
It is fair to say there was considerable input from all the political parties in this House, as Mr Gemelli accepted a number of amendments during the committee stage. It lays down the foundation for development policy for the coming decade. Some of the statistics it throws up are frightening in their nature, for instance the number of people under the age of 15 in developing countries; the utter poverty in which most of them live; the scourge of diseases such as AIDS, malaria and TB; the huge and widening gap between developed and developing nations; the predictions, which I believe will never be reached in the timescales laid down. Lastly, there is the enormity of the task we face as a European Union to help eradicate these problems.
It is encouraging that the Commission, of its own initiative, has realised we cannot continue as we have in the past and that new structures and formats have to be found to close the gap between commitments and payments and that better use must be made of developing funds. Trade is the key. I applaud much of its thinking. We in Parliament must support its efforts. Decentralisation is a must to make better use of our delegation offices and cut red tape and wasted time.
As the rapporteur for regional cooperation and integration last year, I am pleased to see progress being pursued in this direction with ECOWAS in West Africa leading the way. Only by strengthening internal regional trade will many nations be able to face globalisation and WTO rules. ‘Everything but Arms’ is a major step forward. But to make best use of development aid there must be closer cooperation between nation states, financial institutions and the Commission. The Commission should be acting as overall coordinator to cut out duplication and not be involved in the day-to-day development issues which should be contracted out to organisations that specialise in these matters.
While budget support to national governments may spend more money quicker, it is much more difficult to police and monitoring will have to be of a high calibre. Small-scale help for entrepreneurs must not be abandoned. It is here that the members of the Committee on Development should be more active in keeping the Commission alert to its responsibilities. The Commission has laid down its six priority principles, all of which we can strongly support. The priority within the six is also important. We should never forget that without peace, stability, good governance and the rule of law none of the other five priorities can be acted upon."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples