EU Member States and the EU Commission commited themselves closely to work to achieve the Milennium Development Goals at Tuesdays Council of Ministers meeting on development matters
The Council of Development and Cooperation Ministers of the EU spent most of its session Tuesday on preparations for the United Nations Summit planned for autumn 2005 and the Millennium objectives for the fight against poverty in the world by 2015.
Pointing out that “the EU is the political entity which has committed the most resources to the fight against poverty in the world”, the President of the Council, Agnes Van Ardenne, underlined “the need to double the volume of these resources,
in order to get the poorest African countries out of the cycle of
poverty”.
Taking note of the state of progress with the EUs contribution to the examination to be carried out by the UN in 2005 of the progress made towards the achievement of the Millennium objectives of halving poverty in the world by 2015, the Council indicated that for the time being, it had 21 reports of 25 from the competent national committees for development, and that it was awaiting a report by the
European Commission.
The Council also adopted conclusions on the effectiveness of the EUs external actions in terms of development cooperation, welcoming progress made of increased speed in the channelling of aid. – We must spend a greater proportion of aid destined for developing countries on the poorest populations, said Ms Van Ardenne.
– We must also establish a timetable to achieve the objective of 0,7 per cent of GDP from each Member State to official development assistance (ODA) and present it to the European governments, she continued.
– We are aware that the 10 new Member States have fallen a long way short of this objective, and we have taken account of the problems they have had in achieving it, and we realise that they are making the maximum possible effort in this direction, added Ms Van Ardenne.
For the time being, only Luxembourg, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands are achieving the annual objective of 0,39 per cent of GDP spent on ODA and the other countries are a long way off it.
In order to achieve this as quickly as possible, it will take an extra 6 billion dollars a year to fight poverty. Next year the European Commission is to set a new objective of 0,55 per cent, which is still considerably below (the UN goal of) 0,7 per cent.
– We must set a new, more ambitious objective for 2009, said the new Commissioner for Development, Louis Michel, who stated that “we must remain realistic, and include an element of differentiated treatment between the Fifteen
and the ten new Member States”.
– The commitments taken by the EU in Barcelona and Johannesburg must be observed. The Commission will put together a communication on this for April 2005, he said.
The Council stressed the need to harmonise national development cooperation policies, and Ms Van Ardenne welcomed the fact that the competent ministers have shown such dedication to cooperating with Mr Michel.
The Commission emphasised the fact that the EUs actions cover over 55 per cent of international development cooperation. – Greater convergence is absolutely vital to increase the effectiveness of European development cooperation. We must above all ensure that the resources we are spending on development cooperation are not being spent on military ends. We must also clarify our vision of (.) how this action will be continued, Mr. Michel said.
The Council also adopted conclusions on the actions the EU must undertake in order to fight three contagious diseases, known as the diseases of poverty: HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis.
– We are still faced with the fact that over 500.000 women with the Aids virus die in
pregnancy or childbirth. It is a difficult problem to tackle, as there are still far too few affordable medicines available to do anything about it, said Ms Van Ardenne. The Council therefore underlined the need to promote scientific research to find new remedies, and also to mobilise new and extra resources.
When asked about the humanitarian situation in Darfur, Louis Michel announced that he was visiting Sudan to meet “all players in the humanitarian, human and political drama” unfolding in the country, and to see how the EU can help to support the peace process. – We must have presence and be insistent, he said.
– No improvement of the situation in Darfur is foreseeable, said Ms Van Ardenne adding: – The African Union (AU) is prepared to send troops, but it is impossible to deploy them for the time being. The Sudanese regime must cease bombardments, disarm the Janjaweed and allow the military forces of the EU to be of active service in Darfur.
– We are, however, coming closer to a political solution to the conflict, concluded Ms Van Ardenne.
Kilde: Sophie Peresson, European Advocacy Manager, Marie Stopes International, Rue Montoyer 39, 1000 Brussels. Tel: 02/ 551 54 53, Fax: 02/ 551 54 59. website www.mariestopes.org.uk
