Brussels, 21/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - MEPs from the European Parliament's development committee expect ambition, leadership and respect for commitments from the EU at the third high-level UN conference on post-2015 development financing, which will take place in Addis Ababa on 13-16 July. The MEPs made this known in Brussels on Monday 20 April, when they adopted the report by Pedro Silva Pereira (S&D, Portugal) by a large majority - 19 votes in favour, 1 against and 3 abstentions (see EUROPE 11288).
Silva Pereira's report urges the 28 EU member states to reconfirm their commitment to allocate collectively 0.7% of GNI to official development assistance (ODA); to put forward multi-annual budget timetables in order to achieve this by 2020, taking account of their budgetary constraints; to reserve half of this ODA and at least 0.2% of GNI for the least developed countries. The MEPs also urge the EU to affirm its political leadership when developing the global framework and post-2015 sustainable development goals. “Goals and targets mean nothing if they are not financed. The Parliament wants to send a strong political message about the future implementation and financing of the new global development agenda for the 2015-2030 period”, Silva Pereira stated.
The MEPS believe that a major source of financing must be the mobilisation of national resources - a mobilisation that is more predictable and more sustainable than foreign aid is. They call on the European Commission to help more in strengthening the developing countries' capacities in tax administration, public finance management and the fight against corruption. The EU and its member states are asked actively to fight tax havens, tax evasion and the illegal flows of finance. The Parliament's development committee also calls on the EU to set up a regulatory framework with the developing countries - a framework that favours more responsible investment in the developing countries. (Aminata Niang)