Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-22-Speech-2-495"
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".
Madam President, development assistance has been in the headlines in recent days, although unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.
We will also be vigilant on the question of EPA funding. Here too, the EU and the Member States have made a commitment: an additional EUR 2 billion in aid for trade between now and 2010. However, it seems that this EUR 2 billion has melted away and that the Commission is already planning to finance EPAs from integrated regional programmes. It must clarify its intentions on this subject, because EDF funds, as far as we are concerned, should not be used as a reward for signing an EPA.
The report makes a number of other points, although I do not have time to go into these. I will just mention two others before finishing. Firstly, the African Peace Facility. Obviously we must support the efforts of the African Union for peace and the prevention of conflict on the continent, but I believe that this instrument comes under the CFSP, and so must be financed from CFSP funds.
In terms of co-financing, the report calls for an initial tangible application, i.e. the creation of a ‘pan-African development fund’, jointly funded by the EDF and the neighbourhood instrument.
This is more or less the content of my report, for better or worse.
Mr Michel, you recently said that ‘we are the first generation that can face up to extreme poverty and state with genuine conviction: we have the money, the medicines and the science to end poverty. The question is, do we have the will?’ Well, on this point, Mr Michel, Parliament is right behind you.
In 2007, EU aid fell for the first time since 2000. This is an appalling political message that we are sending out to the countries and peoples of the South, at a time when the most fragile of them are being hit by the food crisis.
Parliament supports the Commission, supports you, Commissioner, in reiterating the commitment of the EU at the European Summit in Brussels and insisting on a tight schedule. We have a twofold responsibility in terms of international solidarity: first, keeping our word, and second, the guarantee that our aid will make a tangible and effective contribution towards combating poverty. This is what is at stake in the implementation of the
10
EDF and almost EUR 22.7 billion over the next six years. I believe that the EU has a major weapon here for tackling poverty and building a fairer world.
This is why we are extremely concerned by the delays in the ratification process. Granted, the Commission has committed to the continuity of funding, at least temporarily, but the situation could very quickly become untenable for the most fragile African countries.
Our first priority for the 10
EDF is democratic scrutiny. Democratic scrutiny of the European Parliament, first of all, with the budgetisation of the EDF – and this time I hope that we will not miss the deadline for the review of the financial perspectives in 2010 – and democratic scrutiny of national parliaments, with a reinforced capacity-building programme.
We would also like education and health to be priority action areas and to be allocated 20% of EDF funds. However, there are only plans to grant allocate 6.1% of aid to these areas, and even this figure has fallen compared with the 9
EDF. The Commission says that it will achieve the 20% target through budgetary support, and we take it at its word.
The report also underlines shortcomings in terms of the gender dimension, which is not currently an area of action in its own right. We need to reopen this debate in consultation with our ACP partners, their parliaments and civil society, during the mid-term review in 2010.
As for budgetary support, I personally have always believed that this was a good instrument, provided of course that it respects democracy, good governance and coordination between donors. Since we believe that budgetary support must serve the Millennium Development Goals, we are encouraging the Commission to go down this path with its MDG contracts.
For the new incentive tranche proposed in the 10
EDF, of course we say yes to a good governance ‘premium’, but no to a governance profile, which would primarily reflect the interests of the North. I would like to talk about the fight against terrorism, immigration, etc."@en1
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