Brussels, 09/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - As far as the European Parliament is concerned, the Financing Instruments for Development Cooperation established in 2006 under Regulation 1905/2006, should focus solely on poverty reduction in future, and achieving the Millennium Development Goals should be its overriding priority until 2015. In a resolution adopted by show of hands in Strasbourg on Wednesday 8 June, MEPs hammered the message home, agreeing with rapporteur Gay Mitchell (EPP, Ireland) that it was regrettable that this demand, already made in the past by the EP in its democratic scrutiny of implementation of the regulation, was being ignored.
MEPs say this important refocusing of aid will ensure it is effective and should be combined with an increase in public development aid (PDA) resources and better distribution of them.
“To achieve our Millennium Development Goals, we must increase funding in this area to reach 0.7% of GNI on ODA by 2015. Post 2013, the development committee of the European Parliament wishes to see a financing instrument that exclusively targets poverty eradication in the developing world. It is also clear that a targeted distribution of aid has a huge impact on the effectiveness of anti-poverty programmes. At least 20% of that budget must be ring-fenced for basic health and education provision” said Gay Mitchell.
The EP points out that the strategy to encourage economic growth must not be confused wit the long-term development strategy that requires the financing of long-term objectives for healthcare, education, access to fuel in the countryside and help for peasant farmers. A better targeting of aid will require greater involvement of non-state players and local authorities, adds the EP, calling for regular, structured dialogue between the Commission and the EU's diplomatic corps on programming and delivery of aid. The EP is concerned at the trend, in the current period of belt-tightening, of focusing on private sector investment to leverage greater funding for development, pointing out that development cooperation is the only area of foreign policy that is not deigned to serve the EU's interests but rather to defend the interests of the most marginalised and vulnerable communities on the planet. It urges the Commission to ensure that no public cash for investment in the private sector in countries in the Southern Hemisphere is siphoned away from already poorly funded areas, as has already been seen with projects for local authorities and non-state players. The resolution says that EU aid should allow the private sector to develop properly in low-income countries, along with small businesses. (A.N./transl.fl)