Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-22-Speech-4-042"
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"en.20080522.7.4-042"2
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"Development money can and should be better spent. That, Madam President, is what we can conclude from the extremely balanced report by the rapporteur. I congratulate him. The report has come at the right time. Europe seems to be getting tired of development expenditure. That trend is very worrying and we should not underestimate it. Even in countries such as the Netherlands, which have always been known for their international solidarity, voices are heard in favour of cutting development expenditure. The only answer is for the work to be transparent, efficient and results-based.
The European Union can achieve a great deal on that point, especially through the three Cs: coherence, complementarity and coordination. The Commissioner has often pointed that out and is working towards it. We can also do more about the proliferation of projects and programmes. If something is not going well, another programme is not always the best solution. It is better for us to do a couple of things well than to half-do everything.
Madam President, the European Union is the biggest donor. So we have a big responsibility. Besides that, with the new Treaty our possibilities for more cohesion, additional policy and better coordination are growing. The effectiveness of our aid is crucial, not just to justify the developing countries at home, but above all actually to be able to combat poverty in the developing countries. In the end it is the result that counts more than the intention. In the 2009 development cooperation budget, I shall be putting forward proposals for evaluation to be more results-based as well. We must focus more on results than on vague indicators.
Finally, I should like to ask Commissioner Michel the following question. Commissioner Fischer Boel said that the Commission wanted to use some of the unspent money from the 2008 European Budget to help countries affected by the sharp rise in food prices, in other words for the food crisis. I should like to know the reaction of the Commissioner. Can the Commissioner also say how these extra funds will be used?"@en1
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