Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-23-Speech-3-191"
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".
Mr President, I believe that we should pay tribute to President Lula’s initiative on action against hunger and poverty, which is behind the honourable Members’ oral question.
This initiative has not been without effect. There is now a real awareness, firstly an awareness that poverty and hunger in the world constitute a real scandal, and then, beyond that, an awareness that they pose a permanent threat to stability and normal development. We have talked a lot, this morning and this afternoon, about democracy in the developing world. The ‘Make Poverty History’ initiative launched by Tony Blair, by the UK Presidency of the G8 countries, is to some extent in line with this action, and some time ago we had a debate on the issue of reducing, or even cancelling, the debts of the poorest countries. Now, therefore, this initiative by President Lula, together with other Heads of State, should be followed by practical action.
It is true that so far the Council has not yet adopted a position on the innovative sources of finance for aid to developing countries. However, you will have become aware that a certain number of ideas have been put forward, which are currently under discussion and which are no longer regarded as taboo. Thus a subject such as the taxation of aviation fuel is no longer taboo, but forms one of the routes which are currently being studied in the move towards new sources of finance enabling us to combat poverty more effectively. Moreover, the search for such innovative sources of finance is one of the eight commitments defined in Barcelona in 2002 by the European Council with a view to implementing the Monterrey Consensus.
In Barcelona, the Member States of the European Union confirmed their willingness to make a series of eight commitments, known as the Barcelona Commitments, which should be regarded as eight different aspects of the European Union’s action towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, with the aim of eradicating poverty. Heaven knows that we are still, in the case of many countries, and particular sub-Saharan countries, very far from achieving those goals, for example as regards access to water, access to education and access to proper food.
In its conclusions of 27 April 2004, the Council, noting the work currently being carried out in Member States on innovative sources of finance, encouraged the Member States and the Commission to examine the possibilities for agreement on the various proposals currently under discussion. In that connection the Council emphasised the important role of partnerships between the public and private sectors.
At its meeting in June 2004, the European Council confirmed that the European Union would intensify its efforts with a view to meeting the commitments made at Monterrey, in particular by seeking the innovative sources of finance which I have already mentioned. In addition, at its latest meeting, in December 2004, the European Council confirmed that the European Union is completely committed to the Millennium Development Goals and to the idea that we should ensure that progress is made towards achieving them, particularly by seeking new methods of finance based on the proposals submitted by the Commission for the high-level meeting in 2005.
The time for action has arrived, the time for proposals has arrived, and I believe that the Council is now waiting for the Commission to submit proposals, in the hope that they will depart somewhat from the old, well trodden paths, and really will contribute something new."@en1
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