Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-12-Speech-2-064"
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"en.20050412.7.2-064"2
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"Mr President, because of a late flight, I was unable to listen to most of the debate, but I am of course very familiar with the arguments and want to begin by congratulating Mrs Kinnock on an excellent report.
The Millennium Development Goals are first and foremost a moral issue. The huge differences in standards of living that exist in today’s world are becoming evermore absurd. We have both the knowledge and the resources to eradicate poverty now, and there is no excuse for not stepping up our efforts. I welcome this report which contains a series of constructive proposals that I hope will influence the Commission’s work during the next few months. Certainly, the Millennium Development Goals are not easy to achieve. Increased efforts are needed not only in the industrialised countries but also on the part of the recipients. We must bring about a fairer trade system. Corruption is a major problem and must be combated vigorously. We need more money, but we also need more effective aid. The lack of coordination of donors’ contributions is a major problem. In the same way, the lack of dialogue so far within the EU about who is to do what among the Member States and in the Commission is a great problem.
The content is also crucial, of course. Allow me just to mention one area that is too often neglected within development cooperation. I am thinking of the management of natural resources. The poor majority in rural areas are completely dependent upon what is produced by the countryside. A development in which forests, pasture land, soil for cultivation and fresh water resources are decimated and reduced in quality is therefore extremely serious. A major analysis of this development, known as the millennium assessment
was presented last week and makes for depressing reading. The destruction of basic natural resources is generally accelerating throughout the world and constitutes a major obstacle to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. I assume that significantly more attention will be given to this aspect of development cooperation in the Commission’s forthcoming work.
I would once again thank Mrs Kinnock."@en1
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