Brussels, 24/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - It is better to give hungry people a fishing rod than a fish. This proverb has become a universal principle of development philosophy and few people would disagree with it. But what is the EU doing if, on the one hand, it aids West African fishermen to help them make a living, while on the other hand EU legislation encourages EU fishermen to overfish off the coasts of West Africa, leaving local fishermen with virtually no fish? This question is at the heart of the call for coherence in EU policies launched in Brussels on 22 February by famous politicians, a series of development NGOs and The Centre, a thinktank.
The official launch in Brussels of the EU Coherence Programme, a joint initiative by the Evert Vermeer Foundation and CONCORD, a European confederation of relief and development NGOs provided an opportunity to mull over the issue. The three-year EU Coherence Programme aims to identify EU policies that are contradictory to its development objective commitments, and bring these to the attention of European policy makers along with firm recommendations and remedies.
Frans Polman, President of CONCORD, commented: 'Coherence will be an important topic of the Finnish Presidency during the second semester of 2006 and civil society organisations, represented through CONCORD, intend to bring some documented contributions to the debate. For it is our role to ensure and contribute to the creation of responsible and coherent European policies that strive to increase the effectiveness of European development cooperation policy and fight against global poverty.' 'First results can be expected already this year,' explained Polman, adding that 'policy coherence should be a key issue of concern for all working on European affairs. The importance of integrated, coherence approaches to EU external relations, security, economic and development policies cannot be understated. Incoherence policy decisions are both costly for the EU and, more importantly, harmful to developing countries.' He explained that CONCORD national associations and international networks represent over 1600 NGOs, leading reflection and political actions and regularly engaging in dialogue with the European institutions and other civil society organisations.
The EU Coherence Programme is being backed by Wim Kok, former Dutch prime minister (and former President of the high level groups on employment and the economy for the Lisbon Strategy), Karl Friedrich Falkenberg, Deputy Director General for Trade at the European Commission, Luisa Morgantini, President of the Development Committee at the European Parliament, and C.N. Umelo, Nigeria's ambassador to the EU. Some 80 NGOs also attended the launch event.
'Hundreds of millions of people live on less than a few dollars a day. At the same time, there are millions of people throughout the world contributing to the efforts of promoting the development of the world's poorest. Citizens of the European Union pay taxes that contribute to the Millennium Development Goals. To end extreme poverty, to send girls to school and to improve access to health systems… Politicians… have a special responsibility towards their citizens to make sure their financial contributions are effective. Furthermore, and not the least important, politicians need a broad long-term view regarding sustainable development and our common future. Coherent policies mean not taking with the one hand what you have been giving with the other,' explained Wim Kok.