Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-23-Speech-3-212"
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"en.20050223.16.3-212"2
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".
Mr President, I do not think that there are many parliaments that are this sensitive to issues to do with underdevelopment, poverty, countering hunger and actions promoting development. I think this does the European Parliament great credit, and it has an important part to play in the European Union's development cooperation policy.
I think that there are indeed times when we should get indignant. Mr Bowis quoted some figures that were horribly effective in showing that, behind the statistics, there are human beings who are suffering in this vicious circle of hunger and who are dying every day, every minute. A moment of indignation therefore does have its place. However, as someone said, this indignation must be followed by action. I must say that the European Union has nothing to be ashamed of in this respect either. I do not think that it needs to feel guilty: it is the largest donor of development aid. I also admit, though, that the aid we are giving is not enough. That is why we have set ourselves more ambitious objectives for those countries that are well below 0.7%. On the other hand, those that have achieved, or even exceeded, 0.7%, which, in the current budgetary climate, is still not easy, must remain on course.
It is also worth emphasising that, in the fight against hunger, against underdevelopment and against poverty, our approach cannot be anything other than global. That is why it is important to discuss methods of finance and why the commitments that have already been made must first of all be met. We need to find additional and alternative sources of finance. However, all of this will only be effective if this approach is part, as one speaker said, of a global approach that also takes trade issues into account. In this regard, I must also say that the European Union has not got everything wrong. True, there are problems with certain policies, and issues around agricultural policy have already been mentioned, but, in this area too, the European Union is probably the region whose markets are the most open to exports from developing countries. The previous Commission's initiative, or more specifically Pascal Lamy's initiative, called
is aimed at the poorest countries.
I therefore believe that we need to build on what has already been achieved, which is not negligible. We also know, though, that the stakes are enormous and that time is short – we do not have decades in front of us – in an increasingly globalised world, and I think that Europe must not get the impression that it is sheltered from these problems, that it is just a spectator. We are at the same time a participant, by necessity, but we also feel the direct effects of this poverty. When thousands of people arrive on our shores on makeshift rafts, it is one of the consequences of extreme poverty.
I therefore believe that we need to adopt a global approach; we now have to set up a monitoring system and we must not be afraid of saying, if need be, that the efforts made have not been adequate. I think that we in Europe are gradually going to put in place an even more effective policy in this field, which your Parliament considers to be extremely important."@en1
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"Everything but arms"1
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