Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-04-Speech-4-228"
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"en.20030904.8.4-228"2
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"Mr President, I wish to express my sincere thanks to my colleague, Fernando Fernández Martín, for the pithy though balanced report he has drafted. I would also ask Commissioner Nielson to convey my thanks to those involved in drafting the Commission communication. The text is clearly written and big-hearted in its tone.
The practice of tying aid may in theory even turn development aid completely on its head, with the donor benefiting and the country intended as the recipient becoming poorer than ever. Although this extreme paradox, which is well-known in economic theories, is not necessarily very easily possible in reality, it is nevertheless a reminder of the sort of reduced effectiveness and perversions of aid which still occur and are furthermore permitted in real life.
Estimates by the World Bank and the OECD of savings made through increased effectiveness are of the order of 25%. Our rapporteur estimates that the net benefit of untying could be the equivalent of as much as USD 5 billion in terms of cash. As we know how even small sums of money can work wonders in development cooperation, an increase of several billion euros of that sort is staggering. The European Union’s willingness to take the initiative in this matter is significant as the EU and the Member States are responsible together for half the world’s development aid. Reduced effectiveness in development cooperation is therefore by no means a trivial matter when measured in real terms.
It is important to implement the conclusions arrived at in Barcelona swiftly. It should be self-evident that simple market economy principles dictate that the EU Member States should untie donor aid. The key competition principles agreed in the EU will work to the advantage of the developing countries in this. Then local sourcing and sourcing from other developing countries will also be possible, as we have already seen, resulting in a multiplier effect on the effectiveness of aid.
In addition to the benefit in terms of welfare achieved in the developing countries, the liberalisation of procurement will also be important within the EU, because the practice of tying aid which still goes on in many Member States also distorts competition among the Member States themselves and is against the rules on competition in the EC Treaty."@en1
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