After a four-day mission to the United Nations (27-30 June), German MEP Udo Bullmann (S&D), coordinator for his group in the European Parliament’s Committee on Development urged the EU to “turn words into action now, and on a massive scale”, to help vulnerable countries, facing “the ongoing multi-crisis”, to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the gap between ‘North’ and ‘South’ widens.
“It is urgent that Europe finally becomes a global player capable of working towards a new multilateralism with the ‘South’, based on trust and on an equal footing”, he said on Friday, 1 July from New York. An urgent call ahead of the UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (13-15 July).
“UN experts are extremely concerned. No country, no region is on track and there are setbacks, especially in the least developed countries, due to the impact of Covid-19 and climate change which is destroying agricultural resources. Not to mention the conflict in Ukraine and the debt crisis which is worsening with the increase in interest rates”, the MEP told EUROPE on Monday 4 July, on the sidelines of the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg.
Believing that in order to build trust and reduce inequalities, “health and education are the two priorities”, Mr Bullmann also advocates for “ increasing our support and changing the terms of trade so that countries in the North and South are on an equal footing” in trade.
Mr Bullmann, leading the S&D delegation to New York, was accompanied by MEPs Karsten Lucke (Germany) and Evin Incir (Sweden).
In a resolution adopted on 23 June ahead of the UN High Level Forum, the Parliament called for the EU to have a high-level strategy and a special envoy for the implementation of the SDGs (see EUROPE 12979/19). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)