EUs budget giver 40 procent til landbruget og under seks procent til resten af verden – målet om at yde 0,7 procent af nationalindkomsten i bistand fortoner sig i horisonten, skriver den britiske tænketank, Overseas Development Institute (ODI).
EU leaders have finally reached their decision on the size and shape of the EU budget from 2014 to 2020, writes ODI Monday.
In 2020, just under 40 per cent of the EU budget will continue to be spent on farm subsidies that hold back growth, whilst just below six per cent will go towards addressing global challenges, such as global poverty, humanitarian crises and global security.
Although the EU’s foreign assistance budget (Heading 4 – ‘Global Europe’) has not been cut, its growth rate is ever so slight at 1,8 per cent, from 57,7 billion British pounds (1 pund = 8,80 DKR) 2007-2013 to 58,7 billion 2014 to 2020.
The really bad news is that the other source of development aid, the European Development Fund (EDF), which importantly, finances cooperation with some of the poorest and most fragile states in Sub-Saharan Africa, like Somalia and the DR Congo, will effectively be frozen at current levels for the next seven-year period.
Danmark vil stille med mindre til fonden
The EDF will continue to operate as a separate fund outside of the EU budget, based on Member States’ direct contributions.
However, the fund has been cut by 3,34 billion pounds from the European Commission’s proposal so that seven Member States – Austria, Belgium, DENMARK, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the UK – will all contribute less towards the EDF from 2014-2020 than what they currently contribute.
This is in spite of the fact that all major assessments of the EDF in the last five years have rated it a strong performer and more effective than other EU financial instruments.
So, where does this actually leave the EU in its fight against poverty and its long-standing pledge of achieving the UN goal of using 0,7 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI = bruttonationalindkomsten) for aid by 2015?
In 2010, the EU Member States’ collective aid spending was 53,5 billion, or 0,44 per cent of GNI. In 2011, that share fell to 0,42 per cent. In 2012, the share is forecasted to remain stagnant at 0,42 per cent.
The 27 Member States have forecasted that, by 2015, their collective development aid will reach 0,45 per cent of GNI, a far cry from 0,7 per cent.
Given that the Member States count their contributions to the EU budget as part of their individual efforts towards the 0,7 per cent target, increasing aid levels in the EU budget would have helped them to meet their pledge.
The leveraging (løftende) effect of EU budget levels is particularly significant for Member States with smaller development assistance budgets that channel a large share of development aid through the EU institutions, such as Portugal, Ireland, Poland or Slovenia.
At the same time, those Member States with large development assistance budgets, like the UK, can leverage a greater overall effect towards the EU collective 0,7 per cent target through their comparatively low contributions on a relative basis, just by protecting and supporting development assistance in the EU budget.
Fra 18 procent til 18 procent
Currently, around 18 per cent of the 53 billion punds of Member State aid is channelled through the EU budget and managed by the EU institutions.
If the Member States hit their forecast for 2015, so that their collective aid reaches 0,45 per cent of GNI, then the aid share managed by the EU institutions will remain at around 18 per cent.
If, however, the Member States actually meet their 0,7 per cent target in the next seven years, the EU’s market share will decline substantially to 12 per cent.
This is because of the lack of channels for increasing EU aid – the EU budget and the EDF are now set to 2020. The problem is that the EU is now becalmed (beroliget). And the smaller the EU’s footprint, the less it will be a driving force in EU policy.
Kilde: ODI – www.odi.org.uk
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http://www.u-landsnyt.dk/nyhed/07-02-13/eu-planl-gger-stort-hug-i-u-landsbistanden-care-be
