Brussels, 01/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - Andris Piebalgs, European Development Commissioner, is of the opinion that the European Commission proposal for the 2014-2020 financial perspectives is being more than generous in its allocation for development spending. It is increasing the funding of external action “both to sustain its valuable action in the fight against poverty and to secure its presence in the world”, he said, adding that this is a “smart investment with a long-term vision” that will allow the EU to keep its aid commitments for attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
“The EU and its partners have a mutual interest in making sure poverty steps back: less poverty means less trafficking, less illegal migration, less pandemics, less terrorism and insecurity. It is cheaper to eliminate root causes of the problem than to deal with the symptoms further down the line”, the commissioner states in his blog. He goes on to add: “The proposal for EU budget will also make it possible to maintain the EU share's of the commitment to allocate 0.7% of GDP to aid by 2015”.
All 1,600 European development NGOs, within CONCORD (European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development), think along the same lines. Pleased to see external spending rise from €56 billion to €70 billion, they welcome the renewed commitment towards the MDG in this budget proposal. Also, they call on member states to support the level of financing proposed for development, and to shoulder their national responsibilities to keep their MDG commitments.
In particular, NGOs welcome: - the proposal to include a clear commitment to the 0.7% GNI development aid targets along with a clear focus on poverty eradication based on democracy, human rights, equality and respect for the UN Charter and international law; - a financial transaction tax (FTT) to generate own EU resources; - and climate action as a core priority.
CONCORD also calls for aid not to be reduced to emerging countries and middle income countries, for tax receipts on financial transactions be used for poverty eradication and climate change, and for climate financing to be additional to official development assistance (ODA) commitments already made. (A.N./transl.jl)