Remarks by Greek Deputy FM Loverdos on Development Cooperation

Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to address to all of you a warm welcome to Greece and to Alexandroupolis; I thank you all for your response to the invitation to participate to the Informal Meeting of the Ministers for Development Cooperation, a meeting organised by the Greek Presidency.

Allow me to express my special gratitude to the local authorities and local communities and to all the people of Alexandroupolis for their warm hospitality.

Our two-day meeting is of special interest, since this is the first opportunity we have to receive our ten (10) new partners to an Informal Meeting of the Ministers for Development Cooperation, held after the signing of the accession treaty, celebrated in Athens on the 16th of last April. Thus I would like to warmly welcome the delegations of the ten (10) "active observers" of the European family and to wish them rapid integration as "active members".

It is during the current circumstances of the E.U. enlargement that we come to examine, the development cooperation policy of the community. The European Union of twenty-five (25) is now asked to make all necessary adjustments to this particular policy sector and to meet the constantly increasing and changing demands of the developing world, demands that focus on the fields of trade, economy and society.

Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The main issue of today's Informal Meeting is the perspective of the development cooperation policy of "Europe of 25". The basis of our debate will be the non-paper, already received by all delegations and studied with the proper attention. I would like to express my gratitude to the Commission for its contribution and to invite Commissioner Mr. Nielson to take the floor right after.

The work of the community policy of development cooperation is complex and involves multiple aspects. It requires everybody's coordination; both at the policymaking level as well as at the implementation level. It is the only way to safeguard the effectiveness and transparency of our actions. The institutional framework is there; both the fundamental framework, through the European Union Treaties, and the sectoral and regional framework, through the Cotonou Agreement for the ACP countries, the ALA Regulation for Asia and Latin America, and the PHARE, TACIS, MEDA programmes, just to mention the most important ones.

Our new partners will have to adjust their institutional framework to the new reality laid in the greater European Union's family and its legal framework in force. Their accession will boost trade, since a larger European market of more than 450 million people will be created.

I will present now some points concerning the existing institutional framework, in order to facilitate the debate.

I would like to refer to the financial and budgetary issues. The ten (10) acceding countries, after the completion of procedures by the 1st of May 2004, will participate in the EU General Budget and consequently will participate in the financing of EU development policy, through all appropriate budget lines (MEDA, TACIS, ALA etc), as well as thematic budget lines, such as environment, food aid, and others. So, 4,68% of their contribution to the EU Budget will automatically take the form of Official Development Assistance (ODA).

The Cotonou Agreement is considered as acquis communautaire and will remain in force for 20 years. The application of the Cotonou Agreement has just started, on the 1st of April 2003. As we all know, the 10 acceding countries will not contribute to the 9th EDF. They will participate to the negotiations for the 10th EDF, after 2005.

In Barcelona, just before the Monterrey Conference, we undertook new responsibilities and commitments. The collective commitment foresees that a EU average of 0.39% ODA/GNI has to be reached by the year 2006. The individual commitment for each Member State foresees that the M-S that have not yet reached the 0.7% target will increase their ODA in order to reach the EU average of 0.33% by the year 2006. So, for the new M-S this constitutes an important part of the political "acquis". Of course, due to the level of economic development in the majority of the acceding countries, implementation of the acquis will not be easy.

Thus, the guidelines already agreed upon will have to be honoured by all, taking into consideration their starting point.

However, no institutional framework, no matter how concrete it is, cannot become effective, unless it is accepted by the societies it is called to serve. This is a necessary parameter for its success.

Thus, the new Member States will have to gradually apply, in a constant and systematic way, the acquis communautaire in the fields of development cooperation, economic, financial and technical cooperation with third countries and regions. This is the only way to ensure their smooth transition from recipient to donor states. We do realise how tough these efforts are and will be, especially since the gains from development cooperation are not visible enough. This is the reason why the next five years will be crucial for the successful completion of their transition.

Greece has been through a similar experience. A few years ago, Greece was considered to be a developing country. Today, it is a member of the euro-zone and a donor country. Our Official Development Assistance has been raised by 300%, and our growth rate, ranging at around 4%, is one of the highest in Europe. We are making our first steps as a donor state, while we draw on our recent experience as a recipient country.

The lessons we have learned as a recipient country have proved to be a valuable guide in our present course of action, while the experience we have drawn from the elaboration of our recent Development Assistance Framework within the context of DAC (for the years 2002-2006) has proved to be especially significant. Nowadays, the results of this constructive course of action are recognisable and tangible within the Greek society.

This is the situation and the challenges we have to face. From a political point of view we should be able:

To show solidarity to the poor countries, to honour our commitments, and to define our policies and priorities within the enlarged Europe.

We look forward to hearing your views on these issues.

Of the same vital importance is the EU's coordination, with the international institutions providing development assistance, mainly the organs and the agencies of the U.N. system. It is an important element of development cooperation that we all recognise but not implemented enough.

The community's development cooperation policy started almost simultaneously as the European Communities foundation. It has offered a lot. It could have offered more. Maybe now that the Union consists of twenty-five (25) members we will be able to overcome the weaknesses and inadequacies of the past. We hope that the up today accumulated experience of the M-S and the Commission and the reformation effort of the EU's external aid, already in progress, will signal the start of faster development actions. Civil Society has been and will continue to be precious supporter and contributor in this course. Development Cooperation needs their important work.

It is of vital importance to make better known to the European and mostly to the international public the important contribution of our policies and the funds it absorbs in facing up chronic problems of the developing countries is. We should not forget that the contribution of the European Union for the year 2002 reached almost 30 billion Euros, which is almost 55% of all Official Development Assistance worldwide. Europe has the leading role in development, and this is a fact.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am certain that your interventions today and tomorrow will constitute useful elements to elaborate for the institutions of the E.U., in order to fully utilise our potential, aiming at optimising the impact of development aid programmes and take full advantage of allocated funds.

Thank you.

| Top |