Brussels, 09/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - The downward trend in public development aid (PDA), observed over two consecutive years, was reversed last year, throughout the world and in the European Union, according to the preliminary figures on public development aid for 2013, which were published on Tuesday 8 April by the OECD in US dollars and converted into euro by the Commission.
Standing at €56.5 billion granted collectively (compared to €55.3 billion in 2012 and €53.1 billion in 2011), the EU has kept its aid at 0.43% of GNI and holds onto its place as the world's largest donor, according to the European Commission analysis. Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development welcomes this, but stresses that there is “still a long way to go” for the EU to meet the commitment it made in 2005 of allocating 7.1% of its GNI to PDA by 2015.
The individual performances of the member states vary considerably. The following increased their aid: the United Kingdom (+27.8%), Slovakia (+2.4%), Spain (+3.7%), Italy (+13.4%), Poland (+8.6%), Sweden (+6.3%), Austria (+0.7%), Germany (+3%), Denmark (+3.8%), Luxembourg (+1.2%), Estonia (+22.3%), Latvia (+12.2%) and Finland (+3.5%).
Four member states - Denmark, Luxembourg Sweden and, for the first time, the United Kingdom - did better than 0.7% and Denmark anticipates that it will reach the level of 1% of its GNI - a level achieved in 2013 by Luxembourg and Sweden.
Several member states, however, reduced their level of aid. These are: Portugal (-20.4%), France (-9.8%), Greece (-7.7%), the Netherlands (-6.2%), Belgium (-6.1%), the Czech Republic (-4.7%), Ireland (-1.9%), Slovenia (-0.6%) and Hungary (-2.1%). The other eight member states maintained their level of aid.
“With just one year to go to the end of the UN's Millennium Development Goals, EU aid is still off track to reach the 0.7% target. We urge the EU and its member states to review the current state (…) during the upcoming meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in May and consequently during the European Council Meeting in June”, says Zuzana Sladkova, AidWatch coordinator of CONCORD, the European confederation of relief and development NGOs. (AN)