EU Commission President appeals, with Bono, to put EU on track to double development aid

Summary: June 8, 2005: European Commission President to appeal, with Bono, to put the EU on track to double development aid (Brussels)

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European Commission President Barroso will tomorrow meet Bono, lead singer for U2 and a key campaigner on Africa, in the European Commission's Headquarters, in Brussels. The aim is to appeal to EU leaders at the summit in Brussels the following week, to put their full political weight behind ambitious new development aid targets which would put the EU on track to double development aid in a decade (by 2015). The agreement on aid is a crucial part of the build up to the G8 summit in Scotland in July, which President Barroso will attend, and the review of the UN's Millenium Development Goals in September. The meeting between the President and Bono will be followed by a joint press conference at 10.30 in the Berlaymont press room. Speaking before the meeting, the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso said,

"There is one clear purpose behind this meeting today, to send out the strongest possible signal about the level of ambition Europe wants for Africa in 2005. In seven days time, EU leaders from 25 countries will gather in Brussels for a critical summit meeting. With decisions on the European constitution and future budget on the table, there is a risk that important decisions on EU aid fall away from the public eye. My determination is clear, not let the issue of Africa fall back in the political landscape."

"The gap between the world's rich and poor has never been wider. 25,000 people die of hunger in the world every day. In sub-Saharan Africa, nurses and teachers are dying from AIDS faster than they can be trained. Life expectancy has collapsed to near medieval levels. If we are to make 2005 a unique opportunity for change, then there is an urgent need for a strong European response."

"In April, the Commission proposed to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development goals. At the heart of these proposals are plans for Europe to spend 20 billion Euro more on aid per year by 2010."

"It is encouraging that EU development ministers have endorsed the aid increase. But given the ambition of our proposals and the level of engagement required, I ask EU leaders at next week's summit to put their full political weight behind the new targets. This will enable the European Union to go to the table at Gleneagles on July 6th with a strong message about the level of European ambition for Africa in this critical development year."

http://europa.eu.int/comm/commission_barroso/president/index_en.htm

Background Note - EU development aid

The current situation

The European Union's Overseas Development Aid for 2005 will be 46 billion Euro - making the European Union the biggest donor of overseas aid in the world.

The proposals

In April this year, the Commission brought forward new proposals on Finance for Development as part of the preparations for the New York UN Summit in September which will review progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. The Commission's proposals set out:

New and ambitious aid targets for EU Member States - a new intermediate target for development aid of 0.56 per cent of gross national income by 2010 - which would put Europe on course to reach, by 2015, the UN's 0.7 per cent target. In practical terms the new proposals would increase EU development aid to Euro 66 billion in 2010, rising to more than 90 billion Euro in 2015.
Plans to improve the coherence of EU development polices - particularly in priority areas such as trade, agriculture and environment policies. And to improve the quality of EU aid, improving its focus on key areas identified by the African's themselves as crucial to their development including: governance, infrastructure networks, trade, access to services and environmental sustainability.
Plans to make Africa a priority - across the board - in terms of the volume of EU aid resources given, and the quality and coherence of all EU aid actions.

What next?

EU leaders will meet in Brussels for a European Summit on June 16th /17th. Top of the agenda are issues relating to the EU constitution and the future financing of the Union. At the same time, EU leaders should agree to back the ambitious new targets for aid proposed by the Commission in April.

An agreement on aid at the Summit would represent a very significant achievement in itself. It would also send President Barroso - who will attend the critical G8 Summit in Scotland on July 6th to speak on behalf of the EU - to the table with a very powerful message about the level of ambition the EU expects from its global partners for renewed action to reach the Millennium Development Goals.

Ref: EC05-221EN
EU source: European Commission
UN forum:
Date: 9/6/2005

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