Brussels, 12/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, Cypriot Foreign Minister, appeared before the EP development committee (DEVE) under the chairmanship of Eva Joly (Greens/EFA, France) during the evening of 10 July. She said the aim of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU in the field of humanitarian aid is to strengthen the EU's leadership in humanitarian aid by granting priority to the recurrent crises in the Sahel and Horn of Africa. The minister was applauded for the commitment she has shown, for her determination to cooperate with the Parliament and for her country's generosity towards developing nations. She well understood the regrets expressed by MEPs who were disappointed that development issues had not been tackled during her presentation. “Cyprus is assuming the Presidency at a difficult juncture when development and humanitarian aid budgets of member states are under great pressure from the global economic and financial crisis. We believe, however, the European Union must maintain and strengthen its global leadership in addressing the many humanitarian challenges that we are faced with”, the minister said.
On the subject of the food crisis in the Sahel, Kozakou-Marcoullis underlined the need to tackle the root causes and to improve the resilience of the people through the AGIR partnership, by strengthening the links between emergency aid, rehabilitation and development. “We shall do everything possible to take this issue forward in order to prevent the reoccurrence of such emergencies”, she said. With regard to the Horn of Africa, the Presidency will continue its efforts to put an end to the vicious circle of crises.
The Cypriot foreign minister sought to reassure Eva Joly, who had expressed concern about cuts made in the humanitarian aid budget in the draft budgets for 2013 and 2014-2020, “especially for Palestine”. She said the Presidency would be keeping an eye open for problems, and added that any cuts in the food aid budget were unacceptable given the worsening of the conflict situation and climate change. Aware of the need to give more attention to the occupied territories, especially the Gaza Strip, she added that they were particularly sensitive to issues in their direct neighbourhood. Addressing Michèle Striffler (EPP, France), she said that the legislation relating to the European voluntary corps for civil protection is on the point of being adopted. Turning to her compatriot, Eleni Theocharous (EPP), she confirmed that part of the profits from the exploitation of recently discovered gas deposits will go to development aid once Cyprus is able to operate those deposits and notch up some income from them. European Development Days will not be organised in Cyprus but in Brussels. Nonetheless, Cyprus will organise a symposium (in Nicosia on 23 November) to lay the foundations for a post-2015 framework for the eradication of poverty with recommendations for the international community. (AN/transl.jl)