Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-06-13-Speech-3-212"
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"en.20010613.7.3-212"2
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"Thank you, Commissioner Nielson, for a very full and in many parts interesting reply. I believe we agree that this is one of the most serious epidemics and not only one of the most serious humanitarian catastrophes but one of the most serious economic catastrophes the world has even seen.
As much as ten years ago, based on the ways the disease was spread, sexual practices of the time and the widespread poverty in many African countries, experts were able to make forecasts showing that there would be a spread similar to that which we have today and which has had such incredibly tragic consequences. Unfortunately we are now able to make the same forecasts for other parts of the world which were infected later, and the outlook is similar.
The only way to proceed is, naturally, prevention with a mixture of support initiatives for those already affected and preventive initiatives, partly in the form of information and education and partly in the form of efforts to find a vaccine.
I naturally agree with the Commissioner that no problems will be solved simply by setting up a fund. I also agree with many of the requirements for such a mechanism which Mr Nielson sets out. At the same time, it was my experience in setting up UNAIDS, of whose board I was a member, that we constantly had too little money and were able to implement far too few ambitious initiatives. During the years of setting up the project we actually had no money whatsoever to support the national initiatives in the countries most affected.
At the same time, as Mr Nielson has stated, the UN bodies’ normal budgets have fallen, which means that we are suffering from a major lack of money. I am sure that money is needed to achieve success in terms of research and active initiatives at national level. I therefore believe that Kofi Annan’s initiative is good, as long as this mechanism can be set up in a good and non-bureaucratic way.
I appreciate that the Commission cannot conjure up money from nowhere. However, there was a major surplus in the EU budget for last year which has recently been returned to the Member States. It must surely have been possible in such an extraordinary situation to gain support from the Council for a substantial aid package. It would otherwise look very strange, bearing in mind the Commission’s very great commitment in the course of last year and the initiative in which Mr Nielson and others were involved in September – October 2000. I would also like to test Mr Nielson a little further. Given that the soundings ahead of the New York Summit in a little under a month’s time are positive and that this mechanism can be set up properly, what plans are there for us in the EU, Member States and the EU itself, to be able to put forward a decent sum to bolster the preventive work?"@en1
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