Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-05-22-Speech-2-055"
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"en.20070522.7.2-055"2
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".
Mr President, I would like to start by thanking the rapporteur for the way he has dealt with this report. As ever, Mr Martin has been open and willing to engage in compromise with colleagues, producing a report which demonstrates a real consensus in the Committee on International Trade. That said, having asked the shadow rapporteurs not to bring forward amendments at the plenary stage in order to preserve the spirit of that consensus, it would have been respectful had the PSE Group kept to that agreement. Nevertheless, I think we have done enough to ensure that the consensus will hold through the plenary.
I was unsurprised by the depth of common ground between us on the crucial issue of the EU’s Aid for Trade. The G8 summit in Gleneagles where the Commission and EU governments both pledged EUR 1 billion in aid to the world’s poorest people was preceded by a hugely popular campaign. Through the Make Poverty History marches, the Live Aid concerts and other efforts, millions of people have made their voices heard. They are angry, and right to be, about unfair trade rules and highly protected markets that work against those living in poverty and they are passionate about the need for change. If we are to build on the phenomenal mobilisation of public opinion, the pressure must continue at every level, domestic and international.
The key question is whether there is the political will to drive that change. Aid for Trade must ensure that the poorest nations have the capacity to benefit from increased trade liberalisation, efficient customs agencies, better infrastructure, tax regimes which do not rely on import and export duties and anti-corruption measures to ensure that the money gets to the people who have earned it.
Ultimately we will be judged not by how much is promised but by how much is delivered. Pledges on aid are always more easily made than kept. We are all too familiar with the double counting and relabelling tricks that recycle all pledges as new money.
The EU’s Aid for Trade package has a unique role to play to ensure sustainable development, growth and prosperity in the developing world. As such it must be new money over and above existing commitments and trends and it must not come at the cost of monies already earmarked for other crucial development projects such as health and education.
Whilst Aid for Trade is a long-term driver of development, meeting short-term targets, such as the Millennium Development Goals, must remain central to the EU’s international development policy. There too we must do better: some USD 50 billion more a year rather than the current commitment over a five-year period. If sustained political will is required to deliver Aid for Trade, then political courage is needed to ensure we deliver the MDGs in sub-Saharan Africa.
Aid works best when it is delivering a common set of objectives agreed between donor and recipient. We have to concentrate on finding solutions which best fit a country’s needs. That means responding to the demands of civil society and the private sector. As a Parliament, we have already thrown our weight behind the fair trade movement.
If we are to help reduce the poverty in which they live, we need mechanisms to ensure the aid reaches the people who need it most. This report provides the Commission with some clear and reasonable guidelines to that end. It is up to you, Commissioner, to deliver on them."@en1
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