Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-22-Speech-4-040"
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"en.20080522.7.4-040"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we are all aware that there is still much to be done in order to make European development policies more effective. The recommendations contained in Mr Van Hecke’s excellent report, which I fully endorse, certainly go in the right direction.
I too have high hopes for 2008 and for the commitments to reverse the trend; I agree wholeheartedly with the Commissioner when he talks of shared responsibility between donors and countries where everyone has to play a part: rights and obligations. That is our strength!
As we are debating this report, Brussels is witnessing the presentation of the new annual report of CONCORD, the European confederation of development NGOs, on the aid commitments given by EU governments. The report examines the progress made by each Member State, and the picture which emerges is one of gaps and contradictions in our policies to combat poverty and increase aid effectiveness. For example, as Commissioner Michel was telling me, the report notes that in 2007 the amount of aid given by the 27 did not increase as it should have done, but actually fell. At the same time the report shows that many of the problems associated with development policies still persist, such as the lack of transparency of linked aid.
We should respect commitments given at international level. We cannot dash the expectations of people in the southern countries of the world, nor those of people in the so-called northern countries who are working with such commitment to ensure that injustice, poverty and the food crisis, to which Mr Schapira just referred, are handled decisively.
I agree with the Commissioner: we need to stop the rhetoric and take action. I would also like to thank Mr Michel for his passion, his commitment and his fortitude. With the two conferences in Accra and Doha, 2008 can and should be a real turning point and offers an outstanding opportunity for the European Union to show that it can shoulder its responsibilities as leading world donor. It seems almost superfluous to say that we need to increase the quantity and quality of aid. These are not two conflicting concepts. We must not use the need to make aid more effective as an excuse for giving less of it.
At the same time, everyone is now aware that simply increasing the quantity of aid is not enough. It is vital, as we have all been saying, to have an objective for the fight against poverty, instead of geopolitical and strategic objectives. As we are always saying, commercial, migration and security policies must be consistent with development goals.
European cooperation needs to be based not only on our own interests, but also on the genuine priorities of southern countries as identified by local governments, and also by parliaments and civil society, and it is also essential to increase the transparency and accountability of EU aid programmes. In this context, Parliament should be put in a position to exercise genuine democratic control and I welcome the Commissioner’s call to work hard to ensure that EU countries stand by their commitments.
I have a few questions regarding calls for proposals. Those NGOs which want to participate in the Commission tendering procedures find that they are too long and cumbersome, which makes their activities really difficult and in fact excludes many small local associations. So why not ask these organisations directly how to streamline procedures? I have submitted an amendment to be voted today with this in mind.
Then there is the matter of the untying of aid which is dealt with in the Van Hecke report. Progress has been made, but all aid needs to be untied completely in order to prevent money returning to donor countries instead of relieving poverty in beneficiary countries.
Lastly, I would like to pinpoint those States which are still overstating their public development aid figures. In 2007, EU countries spent around EUR 8 billion, in other words about 17% of total European aid, in important sectors but not in the development sector. Cancellation of debt, expenditure on refugees, grants for foreign students constitute expenditure which should be excluded from development aid figures; and so I invite you to support the relevant amendments."@en1
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