Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-01-17-Speech-3-245"
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"en.20070117.13.3-245"2
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"Thank you very much, Madam President, and congratulations. It is very good to see you in the Chair.
As others have said, we are very proud of the fact that the Cotonou Partnership Agreement represents binding contractual agreements with 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. It is, therefore, a very special relationship indeed.
Commissioner, we regret the fact that the great flurry of activity that we saw in 2005 on development and funding for development did not, in fact, include a substantial increase in the contribution of Member States of the European Union to the European Development Fund for the ACP. The reality is that the 10th EDF represents only 0.28 % of Member States’ GDP. That contradicts what you said in terms of how you saw the results of those negotiations. I agree with you on the pace of ratification; that remains of enormous concern. Only four Member States of the European Union and five of the ACP have currently ratified this part of the Agreement, and I think that is of some concern.
I have some questions for you. I know you are not the Commissioner for Development, but perhaps if it is not possible for you answer them, you will pass them on. In Barbados, Commissioner Michel promised to submit the country strategy papers to ACP countries’ parliaments for their scrutiny. I want to know whether progress has been made on this commitment, and whether we can have some description from the Commission on where we stand on that.
Further to that, I would like to ask you whether you are prepared to enter into structural dialogue with the European Parliament on the country strategy papers for ACP countries. My colleague, Mr van den Berg, has said that we want the same status for the ACP as we have for the DCI country strategy papers.
Furthermore, I want to know how the Commission responds to questions that, I think, we in the Parliament have to ask, for instance on budget support to a country like Haiti, which has been recognised by Transparency International as the most corrupt country in the world. How is it that the Commission is now proposing to give budget support to Haiti? The same question applies to Equatorial Guinea. On our committee, we find it very difficult to understand those decisions. With regard to Togo, we see that the Commission is now prepared to normalise relations. We want to know where we stand on the 22 commitments: are they being fulfilled by Togo. At the Vienna JPA, the Commission promised to send details to us on the progress with Togo and we have, as yet, as I understand it from our secretariat, received absolutely no information on that.
Finally, Commissioner, will you undertake to work more closely with the European Parliament on these issues in order to make sure that the Joint Parliamentary Assembly’s views are taken into account? I urge the Commission to answer the serious questions of this kind that we are addressing to you this evening."@en1
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