Brussels, 02/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, with the adoption of a report by Vitaliano Gemelli (Christian Democrat, Italy), the EP criticised the Commission's communication of April 2000 on European development policy. The Parliament regrets that the EU is not able to have a re al vision for the future and that its policies are only partial and carried out on an ad hoc basis. It recommends a different vision based on the rationalised use of resources and on more adequate investment.
In an amendment adopted by 238 to 165 and 60 abstentions, MEPs request that, in order to combat the scourge of HIV/AIDs and related illnesses, the principle of attributing free licenses to the States concerned through the manufacture and the marketing of appropriate medicines should be applied, in conformity with the principle of health emergency. The EP also stresses the need to establish reliable and global indicators to assess progress accomplished in the provision of health services and to judge the impact of macro-economic policies on the population's state of health. The "need to allow developing countries (LDC) to develop their self-sufficiency in food, mainly by backing demands along these lines in the context of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), is taken into account. MEPs recommend, moreover, the reduction if not the cancellation of the foreign debt, on condition that the amounts thus saved are used exclusively for fighting against poverty, mainly through measures in the health and education sectors. The EP, moreover, indicates that it is rallying to the Commission's approach which consists of gearing development policy to the eradication of poverty, and stresses that, in order to be effective, the strategies adopted should seek to strengthen the social and health infrastructures and the productive capacity of the poor categories of the population, which implies access to culture, technology, education and funding.