Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-10-12-Speech-3-135"
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"en.20051012.15.3-135"2
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".
Commissioner, I am aware of the high level to which you are involved in this topic. I think we should be pleased with a communication that proposes a long-term strategy to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in Africa. That is positive, and it is a sound initiative. What is needed to get sub-Saharan Africa on track is an ambitious plan.
Mr President, I should first of all like to comment on the procedure, which is, in fact, dreadful. The Commission presented the report today and values Parliament’s contribution, but if we want to make a contribution in time and present a position, we have already missed the boat for amendments. That is not an ideal situation.
Another tricky subject is that I have received complaints about the communication with the Africans. That should actually be impossible, and I am therefore curious as to how the report accommodates the 23 priorities formulated by the African Union itself.
As has already been stated, a new strategy for Africa is urgently needed. Poverty is at its worst there, and growing. Much aid has already been given, but too little has been achieved. Whilst the report clearly pinpoints the problems and suggests helpful solutions, it cannot convince me that, as the Commissioner often tells us, this new strategy enables more to be done more effectively and more quickly, not least because of the expectations of our own European functioning. As the Commissioner said, coherence and coordination of our own policy are vital if we want to increase effectiveness. I doubt whether this new strategy really offers the right instruments for this. Much, however, will also depend on the political will of the Member States and of those responsible within the Commission.
As far as Africa is concerned, the Commission rightly refers to Africa’s versatility and the need for the African states to accept ownership. The primary responsibility is theirs. With regard to the strategy, the Commission does not draw sufficient distinction between the so-called stable states and the fragile states. Ownership is desirable in both cases. We in the European Union, though, will need to use a different set of instruments in both cases; hence the plea, in my report, for a dual approach.
It is right and proper that the Commissioner should mention the Millennium Development Goals as our starting point and our ultimate goal. That is why I am surprised at a number of proposals, for example where major infrastructural projects are concerned, exchanges between universities or the Nyerere or Erasmus programme. Whilst they are fine ideas, I cannot quite follow them where they concern priorities in the fight against poverty. My time is up. I am relying on the Commissioner, whom I would also like to thank for his involvement."@en1
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