In an interview with Agence Europe, the new Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Development, Barry Andrews (Renew Europe, Irish), discusses the current challenges in international development and humanitarian aid, particularly in relation to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. He shares his concern about the policy direction advocated by the European Commission and the recently appointed Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Síkela. (Interview by Bernard Denuit)
How do you view your role as Chair of the DEVE Committee (see EUROPE 13459/13), especially considering the changes within Parliament since your arrival in 2020?
We have a strong committee, with experienced members and dedicated staff. I’m fortunate to be part of it. Parliament has changed since 2020, particularly with the growth of right-wing parties. Our current challenge is to establish a common set of priorities, and we’re in the process of doing so. The DEVE Committee will play a key role with DG INTPA and DG ECHO [of the European Commission], but we will also contribute in other areas as needed. There has been a significant decline in support for overseas aid, both within Member State governments and the European Commission. Aligning our policy instruments, such as the NDICI instrument and the Global Gateway [investment plan], with the priorities of the DEVE Committee will be a major task moving forward.
You have asked the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, to forward a number of “urgent considerations” to Ursula von der Leyen on behalf of the DEVE Committee (see EUROPE 13475/19). Could you elaborate on these considerations?
Our concerns stemmed from three main sources. First, the briefing book that was leaked in April, suggesting a shift towards an economic foreign policy that had little or no regard for our treaty obligations under international development. Second, President von der Leyen’s speech, which made no mention of overseas aid or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Third, the political guidelines published around the same time, which marked a significant policy shift.
These developments were inconsistent with our understanding of development policy and the numerous resolutions passed by Parliament from 2020 to 2024. We asked President Metsola to convey our concerns to President von der Leyen.
The mission letters that have been released since then still do not address our concerns—for example, there’s no mention of humanitarian aid in Mrs Lahbib’s mission letter, and the SDGs are treated as everyone’s responsibility, making it unclear who is actually accountable for their implementation at the European level.
The Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU presented its priorities (see EUROPE 13491/16) and the Commissioner-designate, Jozef Síkela, shared a vision for international partnerships that seems to prioritise European businesses (see EUROPE 13484/6). How do you think the Parliament will approach things?
I can’t speak for all the European backgrounds of Parliament, but I can share the perspective of our committee. We aim to have a positive working relationship with Commissioner Síkela. During the hearings, we will seek to obtain commitments from him that align to Parliament’s positions, our committee’s priorities and our obligations under the Treaties. Clearly, Global Gateway will be a major priority for him. President von der Leyen has tasked him with moving from ‘startup’ to ‘scale-up’ mode, signalling an intention to expand the reach of the strategy.
Our committee will ensure that this is in line with our priorities, in particular by ensuring that countries outside the current scope, such as those in the Sahel region, are not left behind. Global Gateway is not present in regions such as Chad, Burkina Faso or South Sudan. If this instrument isn’t addressing these regions, which are plagued by instability and conflict, there’s a major policy gap that we need to address with Commissioner [designate] Síkela.
Commissioner Urpilainen argues that development aid now relies heavily on private funding (see EUROPE 13445/1). Do you share this opinion?
Development finance includes several elements: remittances, official development assistance (ODA), philanthropy, and private finance. Over the last two decades, development finance has achieved incredible results—such as the reduction in child mortality and improvements in maternal health and vaccination coverage.
However, there is a tendency within the Commission to shift focus away from these achievements, especially as funds are redirected to other priorities like Ukraine, which is fine. We are now looking to private finance to bridge the gap.
Although private finance has a role to play, particularly in large-scale infrastructure projects, it’s not a proven concept for all regions. For example, private investors show little interest in areas such as the Sahel because of governance and regulatory issues. For many countries we’ll continue to rely on traditional forms of development finance, in my opinion.
You took part in the Future Summit, on the sidelines of the 79th General Assembly of the United Nations. What were the key outcomes?
For the EU, multilateralism is essential - it is our foundation. At the summit, we reaffirmed our commitment to multilateralism, which was generally well-received. However, with the current geopolitical divisions, progress is limited. We’re past the halfway point on the 2030 SDG agenda and I’m not sure we’re addressing the underachievement of the SDGs effectively. The Future Summit demonstrated that the UN still has convening power, as everyone showed up. But beyond that, it’s clear that we’re struggling to make tangible progress. Things have changed significantly since 2015... We need to focus on the SDGs that will have the greatest impact, particularly education. We have an argument to win. There is a concept that we need to introduce into development policy, but the tide is running against us. It will be tricky.
Brazil has proposed the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty (see EUROPE 13461/8). Could this contribute to progress on the SDGs?
It’s positive that the global South is taking leadership. Much of the development work has been driven by the North - intellectually, financially and politically. We need to decolonise this space and shift more leadership and ownership to the South. Brazil’s proposal is a step in the right direction and could act as a wake-up call for all of us in the development sector. The Global Alliance could be a powerful instrument for greater involvement of Southern countries at scale, which is exciting.