Brussels, 09/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission and Bono, the Irish U2 pop star, known for his commitment in the fight against poverty in Africa, launched an energetic appeal to the EU to take a decision at the highest level for doubling its public development aid by 2015. This appealed was launched to the press on Thursday in Brussels and comes a few days away from the European summit on 16-17 June, which is expected to ratify the agreement made by development ministers to increase their aid by EUR 20 bn a years by 2010, to reach 0.7% of Community GDP by 2015 as proposed by the Commission (EUROPE 8953 and 8964). In formulating the appeal, Barroso and Bono certainly had the next G8 summit in Gleneagles in Scotland in mind where Africa will be one of the priorities, according to Tony Blair's agenda and the UN summit in September in New York, which will focus on speeding up progress to attaining the millennium development objectives.
José Manuel Barroso and Bono both think the crisis in Europe, although bringing up a lot of questions, should in no way justify less attention on Africa and on the contrary, could be used for mobilising citizens on a solidarity project which should not make Europe blush but about which its citizens are not always aware of its scale. In his meeting with Bono, president Barroso said, “ in a week, the leaders of the EU25 will meet in Brussels for a summit of crucial importance. Given the dossiers to be tackled, the European Constitution and the future Union budget, important decision on aid agreed to by the EU risk going unnoticed by the public. My determination is clear, I do not have the intention of leaving the problem of Africa disappear from the political landscape”.
Addressing the press, at the end of his “excellent discussion” with the star, Barroso said that the G8 and the New York summit provided two opportunities raise awareness in the international community to take urgent action for alleviating the burden on the poorest countries, beginning with the debt. Barroso declared that “we have to seize all the opportunities for pursuing ambitious development aid objectives. I call on the EU leaders to support the new objectives with all their weight”. Barroso is convinced that support from Heads of State and Governments will enable the EU to confirm its determination and send out a strong message to international partners. According to Barroso this involves a moral obligation, that of refusing to accept fate. The president hammered home the following message, “every day 25,000 people die of hunger in the world. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 198 million are suffering from hunger, 30 million are living with AIDS…How much longer do we have to tolerate that? Four centuries ago slavery was accepted as something natural. Today no-one would dare think such a thing. Today some think that poverty is natural. It's nothing of the sort. There are sufficient resources in the world to reverse this situation. What is needed is political will and good organisation. We certainly do have difficulties in Europe but they are insignificant compared to people dying from starvation”.
Asked about the message he was seeking to send to the EU leaders Bono said that he wanted aid to be doubled. He said that he wanted promises to be kept. The star explained that his combat in the fight against poverty in Africa and cancellation of the debt meant, jokingly, his own “megalomania” but more seriously “6.5 million Africans dying due to mosquito bites, which was unacceptable”. He added that he believed that this war could be won. He also averred that what is possible could be done and that climbing Everest required a guide, “I am very happy to have met Mr Barroso”.
Development aid has to be a political driving force, affirms Louis Michel - Call for “reflections of spoilt children” to be overcome
Continuing his tour of European capitals with his pilgrim's staff in hand, Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid delivered a strong message. This message came just before his meeting with president Chirac and in which he said Europe should be proud of being the biggest donor of world public development aid. He acknowledged that more had to be done and done better, particularly in Africa and that a cold response had to be avoided.
Speaking a the “Rendez-vous du Cercele des Européenes-l'Express”, chaired by Noëlle Lenoir (former French minister for European affairs), Louis Michel presented the main outlines of the political declaration he is preparing with the view to making Europe adopt a “common development strategy” before the end of the year as well as the European Commission's contribution to the G8 and to the New York summit. The extra effort that the EU is preparing to make with a view to the New York meeting will not only mean a significant increase in official development aid (ODA) but also greater consistency in EU policies and a focus on Africa, he stressed. “2005 is an important year for development. The tsunami which devastated South Asia received exceptional attention (…) but there are tsunamis every day in Africa”, he asserted.
Louis Michel considers Europe is already doing very well but does not know how to advertise the fact. Citing comments by Tony Blair reported in The Financial Times (of 7 June), whereby the United States is the largest ODA donor, the Commissioner said: “That is wrong. The EU is in the lead, financing 56% of global ODA with EUR 46 billion each year on the part of the Member States and 4 billion from the Commission. The United States only contributes 24%. This is the proof that the EU does not know how to sell itself. Development aid can and must be a political medium. The EU must make its voice heard. To achieve this, it must reflect on how to use the EUR 46 billion to best advantage, this sum increasing to 66 billion in 2010. We must assume our leadership”. The 674 million announced by President Bush by way of complete cancellation of the debt in Africa is, he says, a good thing, but asks “is the money brand new?”
In full gloom after the referendum on the European Constitution, Louis Michel did not beat about the bush when answering the press about the consequences of the French “no”. “Those who voted no did not calculate what they were doing. I cannot believe that convinced Europeans can vote no in full awareness. We can live without a Constitution. What worries me the most is that this has affected the genius of the European idea. (…) The people is not always right. A politician should not be pulled along by the people. In politics, those who follow along are demagogues or populists. Much more time is needed to revive the flame, to make Europe an element of dream again”, he said, denouncing the “spoilt brat reflex” of some European citizens in a Europe that is an area of “prosperity where wealth is better distributed than anywhere else in the world”.