Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-07-06-Speech-3-042"
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"en.20050706.3.3-042"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank Mr Michel and Mr Straw. We will certainly take into account, within our committee, the assessments and written replies that have been sent to us. We will not be merely custodians, but we intend to take action for a common policy.
The efforts made by Mr Michel and the Luxembourg Presidency at the Council of Ministers have been positive and have produced an increase in aid. This is a major step that should not be underestimated, but that is nonetheless not enough to reach the targets we have set ourselves. I hope that the UK Presidency, whose words convey such a high level of awareness, can do much more. The 0.7% that we have been hearing about since 1970 must finally become a reality.
There are many other useful measures in addition to these. For example, for some time now there have been discussions in Parliament concerning increasing spending on development and education. In order to eradicate AIDS and to help the ill it is not just increased funds and a drugs access policy that are needed, but also control over and a vision of liberalising drugs licences.
Another important issue is debt cancellation, which the African Union summit called for yesterday. We have achieved something, but it is not enough. We cannot consider the cancellation of debt as part of the balance-sheet of development aid, as is happening with regard to Iraq.
There is still a lot to be done if 2005 is really to signal a historic turning point in the fight against poverty. Africa has strong resources that we can use.
On 2 July I participated, together with hundreds of thousands of others, in the march across Edinburgh to call for poverty to be made history and to call on the G8 countries for a fair trade policy, more development aid, stringent controls on arms sales and a policy for peace and justice, rather than endless wars.
The demonstration was on a huge scale, with children, women, men, young and old participating, all in full awareness of their actions. These people are an asset to our democracy – they are voices that should be listened to. We in the European Parliament have done so, symbolically encircling the Chamber with a white band and asking Members to sign in support of the campaign organised by hundreds of organisations across the world. The signatures collected will be sent by President Borrell to Mr Straw so that they can be given to the G8 leaders. This is already an action, an assumption of responsibility.
Nelson Mandela, in his message to the G8, expressly said that hunger is also the hunger for justice and added – and I share the sentiment his words express – that poverty, like slavery, is not natural but man-made and can be eradicated by human beings. He also added that while poverty persists there is no true freedom. Overcoming poverty is not an act of charity but an act of justice and defence of a fundamental human right: the right to live in dignity.
Poverty is not a misfortune, but the result of political and economic choices made regionally, nationally and internationally, and should be considered illegal. The greatest scandal is not that hunger and poverty exist, but that they persist even when we have the human and physical means to confront them decisively and resolutely.
These are the concluding words of the New York declaration, signed by 111 governments meeting under the supervision of President Lula, and setting out financial instruments to promote development, including taxes, settlements, measures to combat tax evasion, to reduce costs and to increase the social responsibility of companies. These are instruments that should be seen as complementary to and not replacements for those that already exist.
Overcoming poverty in poor countries, as well as in sections of so-called rich countries, does not mean just respecting the right to life. It is the best weapon against fundamentalism, brutal conflicts and terrorism. In recent years we have seen how the structural adjustment programmes, savage privatisations and the headlong liberalisation of markets and services – and in saying this I do not mean that I am opposed to trade – have helped to exacerbate the problem of hunger and poverty.
I believe that we should be consistent in our choices and face with courage and vision the contradictions produced by international trade policies. When we talk about fair trade, we must be consistent. We cannot invade the markets of African countries with our subsidised products and destroy local economies. Mr Straw is right in saying that we cannot be partners if we do not take into account unequal conditions. For this reason, I believe that we ought to also consider very carefully reforms such as the sugar reform, which damage developing countries. The proposal to link aid to conditions too is an important step that we are taking, creating the conditions required for a real partnership.
I hope that the awareness that can be observed in the people and among us will also be displayed at the next WTO round in Hong Kong and that the Millennium Objectives, which are a fundamental intermediate stage, can be achieved."@en1
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