Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-11-Speech-2-152"
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"en.20000411.6.2-152"2
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"Mr President, it appears that some MEPs here are trying to attribute the problems in Africa mainly to the Africans, while others seem to attribute the blame mainly to Europe and the former colonists. This seems to be the pattern for the Summit in Cairo too. Some think it is a missed opportunity. They are extremely disappointed and can think of all sorts of reasons to support this view, while others deem it a unique and historic event.
The fact that, for the first time in history, such a meeting has taken place between the African and European leaders is, of course, an historic event. The fact that contact has been maintained mainly with Latin America and Asia is indicative of the fact that, evidently, there is something wrong with the normal relations between Africa and Europe. This is true, of course, because very often it is not the Ministers for Foreign Affairs who travel to Africa but rather the Ministers responsible for emergency aid who then pursue their policy from there. In connection with the African continent, policy has always been biased towards all kinds of funding for trade, agriculture, foreign affairs and, of course, development cooperation and there has been insufficient room for normal policy. This is undoubtedly down to our dual approach of pity on the one hand and
on the other, in other words the inability to snap out of the old colonial relations between Europe and Africa. This is as much our fault as it is Africa’s. In the light of this, I consider the Summit more as a good opportunity and a new moment to create a new beginning, despite all the attendant misery – inevitably, there are dictators and there is some European policy which is inappropriate. I would like to praise the Portuguese Presidency, because they could have quite easily opted out, or it could have quite easily dragged on for a while longer, but they took the bull by the horns. No, I am certainly not expecting tangible, huge successes, but what matters is what happened at a deeper level.
Parliament received a letter from Mr Prodi in which he says, on behalf of the Commission, that he has ordered proposals to be made for granting countless African products access to the European market at a zero rate. Such a step is significant. It has been stated that we want to make a large contribution and take part in a much more far-reaching debt burden initiative, provided we can link this in with social development. Mr Nielson is in favour of a complete overhaul of the development policy in which attention will focus much more on social development and poverty, both within the ACP-EU Treaty and within the EU. You cannot develop the African people from within Europe. The African people have their own plans and want to develop themselves, but want help in order to achieve this. A new framework such as this really creates opportunities. Within this framework, room must be made for conflict prevention. Ordinary, regular contacts cannot work miracles. They will not bring about marvellous new results, but they are necessary. I am pleased to hear from the Portuguese Presidency that it intends to ensure that a Summit like this will take place again in the foreseeable future. They should become the norm. In a normal relationship, we can be tough and businesslike with each other and we can adopt a result-orientated policy.
I would like to add one more point. I hope that our budget for 2001 – and the Commissioner is only too aware how heavy this weighs on me, because I am the budget rapporteur for that component – will also accommodate some of these promises. If 45 million children in Africa have never seen a schoolroom before and if we managed to double the education budget next year – not the budget as a whole but if we simply shifted some figures around – then this would be a welcome bonus. Apart from in this final note, I made my contribution on behalf of the entire Group of the Party of European Socialists."@en1
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"misericordia"1
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