Brussels, 15/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - EU support for reinforcing the public finances of the developing countries; respect for debt relief commitments to help to keep levels of indebtedness bearable for these countries; encouragement of new innovative sources of development funding; this is the course to be set to improve the development aid of the EU, states the Council of the EU in unanimous conclusions on development funding adopted without debate on Monday 15 October.
In so doing, the Council subscribes to the communication of the European Commission of 9 July of this year, entitled “Improving EU support to developing countries in mobilising Financing for Development” and to the recommendations made on the basis of the 2012 report on the responsibility of the EU in terms of development funding.
In its conclusions, the Council reiterates the EU's determination to support an increase in mobilisation of the national resources of the developing countries, in the framework of development cooperation, by systematically including tax administration in the dialogue with the partner countries, in support of the policy, tax administration, reform and collection, by helping the developing countries to fight illegal flows of capital and improve the transparency of international financial transactions.
As regards private flows for development, the Council states that the EU will to continue to provide better-targeted, better-oriented and better-coordinated aid to trade, as laid down in the programme for change, which defines the orientations and priorities of the development policy post-2013. It reiterates that the transfers of funds of migrants to their countries of origin are a vital source of funding for the developing countries and stresses the need to make these faster, easier and cheaper (the objective laid down by the G8 and G20 is to bring the average cost down from 10% to 5% by 2014).
The Council also stresses the importance of increased use of innovative financial instruments to encourage the increased participation of the private sector, particularly at local level, in sustainable development of benefit to all. (AN/transl.fl)