Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-03-13-Speech-4-013"
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"en.20080313.2.4-013"2
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substitute; Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America (2007-03-14--2009-07-13)3
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"Mr President, at a public hearing on the subject of new EU donors, held in the European Parliament in January last year, the participants expressed the hope that the discussion on the development policy of the new EU Member States would continue in the national parliaments and in the further work of the European Parliament itself. I am therefore very pleased to welcome Mrs Budreikaitè’s report, which is the first report in the history of the European Parliament that attempts to analyse the commitment of the new Member States to EU development policy and the challenge it involves for them.
It is not easy to summarise all the challenges facing the new European donors in formulating national development policies and modernising development policy at Community level. I shall therefore confine myself to a few key issues. First, the role of national parliaments in shaping development aid in the new Member States needs to be strengthened. Without the establishment of a firm legal basis by the national parliaments it will be impossible to pursue an effective development policy and arrive at proper coordination of the planning and management of aid to the developing countries. In some countries work on the necessary legislation has been going on since 2004 and has still not been finalised. As a result, among other things, those countries have no implementing agenda.
More work is need on raising public awareness – and here I agree with Commissioner Michel about public sensitivity in the new Member States with regard to the importance of development policy. In a transition period of this kind, education for development, wide-ranging social consultation, mass communications and information campaigns have an important role to play. Without them, it will be hard to secure taxpayers’ consent for increased public expenditure on development policy. The greater the public awareness, the more readily will society accept the financial burden.
I also agree with the Commissioner on the need for European solidarity in development policy. We must coordinate our cooperation and learn from each other. On the one hand, the commitment and knowledge derived from history and the transition period in the new Member States can help the whole European Union to develop and strengthen democracy in countries in transition. On the other, the knowledge derived from the experience of the old Member States, and in particular from their aid to the world’s poorest countries, can help to increase and steer development aid to those countries most in need of it – in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, which is not seen as the main destination for aid in the new Member States. Such mutual education and mutual assistance can make the development policy of the whole European Union more effective."@en1
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