Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-19-Speech-2-114"
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"Madam President, let me first thank you for this opportunity to talk about the challenge of poverty and what the European Union can do on the global level through its development cooperation policy. In the second part of this statement, I will also turn to the report by Mrs Figueiredo.
Development aid must be conceived as a catalyst, not as a cure. No country has ever been transformed by aid alone. Sustainable progress depends primarily on developing a country’s capacity to generate inclusive and sustainable growth. Development can only come from within developing countries, not from outside, and so it is on this ‘within’ that we must focus our development efforts. In the end, this is what the principle of ‘ownership’ means.
In November, I plan to launch a Green Paper and public consultation to gather views on how to improve our policies and instruments to better act on the enabling factors for sustainable and inclusive growth in partner countries, thereby tackling the root causes of poverty, bringing strong added value to our development cooperation. I believe, as usual, that your contribution to this debate will be essential.
I would like to thank Ms Figueiredo for her report on minimum income schemes. At the very heart of her report is the basic right of people to have sufficient resources to allow them to live in dignity. This is enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. It has inspired several recent Commission initiatives in the area of active inclusion, in particular, the 2008 Commission recommendation on active inclusion which was endorsed by Parliament and the Council. The recommendation sets out integrated active inclusion strategies based on three pillars – namely, inclusive labour markets, access to quality services and adequate income support. The Commission therefore welcomes this report.
At the same time, we fully respect Member State competences as regards the design and functioning of social protection schemes in general and minimum income schemes in particular. Adequate income is a fundamental component in the fight against poverty for people who cannot work. It constitutes a necessary complement to inclusive labour markets, to combat poverty for people who can work.
The report rightly reaffirms the basic principle of income support, which has to be both adequate and incentive-compatible. Member States are currently taking fiscal consolidation measures to ensure the long-term sustainability of public finances. The Commission shares the view that these measures have to take account of the need to protect the most vulnerable members of society.
The European Commission will present a European Platform against Poverty by the end of this year, setting out concrete measures to support Member States in reaching the target of lifting at least 20 million European citizens out of poverty by 2020.
Eradicating poverty is the most pressing global challenge of our time. It is a challenge that must be tackled, not only for obvious reasons of solidarity and duty, but also for the sake of worldwide prosperity and stability. And that is in everybody’s interests. In 2000, world leaders gathered at the UN in New York and agreed on an international development agenda for the coming 15 years, the Millennium Development Goals. Among the different goals and targets set in the framework, the world committed to reduce extreme poverty by half. Where are we now, five years before the 2015 deadline?
Encouraging progress has been achieved. Overall, 120 million people moved out of poverty between 2000 and 2005, which corresponds to an annual drop of 2.4%, but there is no time for complacency. Today, 1.4 billion people still live in extreme poverty, and there are huge disparities among regions, countries and population groups. Besides, the recent and current global crisis – from food and fuel price shocks to economic instability and climate change – threatens both past achievements and future prospects.
Two weeks ago, the MDG summit confirmed the world’s ambition to fight against poverty. Members of the European Parliament, led by Gay Mitchell, made an important contribution to that summit and I thank them very much for their participation and support. I would also like to thank Parliament for its support in the whole preparation process ending with adoption of the Cashman report. This House’s continuing attention to the MDGs made the EU’s position strong and ambitious in New York. I think the MEPs who took part in the summit were reassured by the outcome. There was no blame game; rather, the gathering gave new energy, impetus and hope with regard to attaining the goals. It demonstrated that the MDGs are still high on the political agenda, with some 110 Heads of State or Government attending the summit. The European Union was instrumental in making this event a success by shaping and voicing a strong common approach among our 27 Member States.
The fight against poverty is also high on our agenda in the European Union. This is part of our European project. It is a central objective of the European Union development policy, as stated in the Lisbon Treaty, and it is also something that European citizens firmly support, which is equally important.
As the world’s leading donor, the European Union has made a major contribution to the achievement of the MDGs so far. To give you just two examples, the European Commission alone has helped put 9 million more girls and boys in schools since 2004, and we have connected 31 million households to clean drinking water. I believe this is something to be proud of, but we need to do more and we can do more.
In June, Europe’s leaders helped make the MDGs stronger by agreeing on an ambitious plan and a set of actions. The plan prioritises action on the goals on which we have made the least progress, and in those regions and countries that are lagging furthest behind, including those experiencing conflict and fragility. The plan also confirms our commitment to meeting the 0.7% GNI target by 2050, despite the difficult economic and financial context. To achieve this, we need to assess progress on this every year.
Turning the Millennium Development Goals – in particular, the goal relating to poverty eradication – into Millennium Development Realities by 2015 will also remain the overarching priority of my action.
We all know that aid alone will not be sufficient to attain the MDGs. To meet the goals, it is also of paramount importance that we are more creative in enhancing the impact of our aid, in promoting more sustainable and more inclusive growth, and in mobilising other and additional sources of finance for development. Equally important are the quality and effectiveness of aid, including through more transparency and accountability, as well as ensuring that non-aid policies are more supportive of the MDGs."@en1
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