Brussels, 24/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament supports the inclusion of the European Development Fund (EDF) into the budget. The EDF funds the EU/ACP partnership (78 countries from Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific). The EP is reiterates its request in this sense and welcomes the fact that the Lisbon Treaty “opens the way to EDF integration into the general budget of the EU”. The adoption by a large majority (637 votes for, 23 votes against, with 14 abstentions) of the report by Marie-Arlette Carlotti (PES, France) on the programming of the 10th EDF (2008-2013) was adopted on 23 April in Strasbourg. MEPs said that including the EDF into the budget would help improve, “consistency, transparency and effectiveness of development cooperation and guarantee democratic scrutiny”.
In the meantime, Parliament is requesting that priorities identified in the Instrument for Cooperation Development (ICD) be reflected in the 10th EDF. MEPs regret that while the commitment to dedicate 20% of funds to health and education by 2009 was included in the framework of the ICD, the amount of funding for these two sectors in the 10th EDF is only 6.1% of the financial envelope (€22.682 million), a figure that is slightly lower than in the 9th EDF.
Parliament says that it is crucial to eradicate poverty and achieve the Millennium development objectives - priority objectives in Regulation 617/2007 on implementation of the 10th EDF and that these are put into practice in all instruments and implementation modalities. According to MEPs, strategy documents by country and by region provide a very restrictive reading of these objectives. Parliament is unhappy that gender issues were not an area for specific action.
Parliament also welcomes the Commission's undertaking to link budgetary support to progress in achieving MTOs, but calls for this support to be assessed in the light of progress made and be reported on annually to the European Parliament, the Joint Parliamentary Assembly and national parliaments.
MEPs say that funding of integrated regional programmes must be of equal benefit to all ACP countries or regions, no matter whether or not ACP states finally decide to take part in Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).
Parliament firmly supports the setting up of a peace support facility in Africa as a common foreign and defence policy instrument. It deplores, therefore, the Council decision of 11 April 2006 which provides for fund for it from the EDF. Consequently, it calls on the Commission and the Council to provide for other funding, by 2010 at the latest, and to be consulted on the issue.
So that the implementation of the 10th EDF can begin as quickly as possible, Parliament calls on the ACP countries which have so far not done so, to ratify the revised Cotonou Agreement. (A.N.)