Speech by EU Commissioner Michel - Are Developed Countries hitting the MDGs?

Sumario: Speech by EU Commissioner Michel - Are Developed Countries hitting the MDGs? (22 September, 2005: Brussels)

Speech by Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, " Are the developed countries hitting the Millennium Development Goals?" at the Friends of Europe & Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Bibliothèque Solvay, Brussels

Are the developed countries hitting the Millennium Development Goals?

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me first of all thank the organisers for having invited me to this evening debate.

Secondly, I would like to contest the way you phrased the question - which is always a good way of starting a debate: the real question is: are the developing countries meeting the MDGs? Because they are the ones that have the primary responsibility for their own countries' development.

It's a truth that is often obscured by well-intentioned NGOs lobbying for more development aid and putting all the responsibility on the door of the developed world. I find this a post-colonialist and rather patronising attitude because it seems to imply that developing countries are unable to take their fate into their own hands. But in fact, we will only see progress towards the MDGs if developing countries' governments put their own resources to development, and if they put the rule of law, democracy, access to basic services and infrastructure in education and health at the heart of their own domestic policies.

Now does that mean that I want to let the developed world off the hook, not at all. We have joint responsibility with developing countries to make this world a more equitable place and unleash the potential of the developing world. But we can only come in support of developing countries' own efforts. This is the deal behind the Millennium Declaration and the Monterrey consensus on financing for development, which were confirmed at the UN Summit last week.

This year, with the G8 in July, the Millennium Review Summit last week and the WTO Ministerial in December, there have been plenty of opportunities for world leaders to take pride in emphasising the importance of action. Unfortunately, lofty speeches are not always followed up with the political will required when negotiations get tough and budgets become tight. Most Heads of State and Government have been reluctant to put their money where their mouths are.

Oil prices, exchange rates, consumer confidence, trade agreements, inflation levels, economic growth, output figures and unemployment, alongside the prevention of terrorism, possible nuclear proliferation, collapsing tyrannies and the future nascent democracies are high on the agenda when the key decision-makers meet to discuss world affairs - and many times, for good reasons. National constituencies expect swift action on unfavourable economic developments and security threats.

Development, on the other hand, is by definition a long-term issue and never has the same kind of urgency….

As there always will be a more imminent crisis or catastrophe than the effective development of regions and peoples to deal with, proponents of development will have to be consistent, patient and strong in making their arguments.

Europe has understood this and is positioning itself as the first among these proponents.

As you know, in May this year the EU took historical commitments. The EU as a whole and Member States individually committed themselves to take ambitious measures in the coming months and years in order to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

Those measures follow three major axes, focussing on

(1) Increasing the quantity and quality of development finance.

Collectively the EU today already provides 55% of worldwide official development assistance (€35 billion in 2004). Europe committed itself to further increase its aid volumes to 0.56% of its national income by 2010, in the view of reaching 0.7% by 2015, hence making this long-standing UN target a reality.

These commitments will bring the EU assistance to an estimated € 66 billion a year by 2010 and an estimated € 90 billion a year by 2015. At least half of the increase in aid will be dedicated to sub-Saharan Africa.

The aid effectiveness agenda is also making important progress. We really need to better harmonise our procedures, coordinate our policies and ensure a true complementarity between donors. The EU is at the forefront of international efforts in this regard and I will take all necessary initiatives to make this agenda a reality.

(2) Strengthening policy coherence for development and associating non-aid policies to the MDG agenda. Finance alone is not enough. Less publicised, but equally important and path breaking is the progress made in the area of policy coherence for development.

(3) Extra efforts and attention in support of Africa.

As regards Africa, we encourage our African partners to pursue the path of the reforms and we stand ready to continue, increase and improve our support. To help Africa reach the Millennium Development Goals, the EU will provide at least an additional annual 10 billion euro by 2010. All measures taken as regards policy coherence and quality of aid will be applicable to Sub-Saharan Africa as a priority.

Before the end of this year, we expect to have a new common Strategy for Africa defined and adopted jointly by the European Parliament and EU Council of Ministers. The objective of the new Strategy is to support Africa's efforts by focusing additional resources on the key issues for reaching the Millennium Development Goals by the target year of 2015. These key issues include in particular peace and security, good governance, regional and multilateral trade, interconnectivity, social cohesion and environmental sustainability.

I am just back from New York and the UN World Summit.

The EU and the Commission were deeply committed to ensure a successful outcome of the MDG Review at the 2005 World Summit and to give a boost to common actions required to reach the MDGs and the targets set for 2015.

There is general recognition of "the slow and uneven progress towards poverty eradication and realization of other development goals in some regions" and of the fact that Africa is "the only continent not on track to meet any of the goals of the Millennium Declaration by 2015". As stated in the outcome document, this strongly calls for urgent action on all sides.

The EU was actively involved in the preparation of the Summit. We made significant contributions to the consultations and negotiations in the run-up to the Summit. The historic and firm EU commitments - on more and better aid, strengthened policy coherence for development and extra efforts on Africa - have had a clear impact in the negotiation process for the Summit.

From the EU perspective, having in mind the ambitious proposals ahead of the Summit, we could have hoped for a more ambitious Summit outcome:

Despite the positive example provided by the EU, there is no general timetable agreed for reaching increased ODA targets.

The importance to strengthen policy coherence for development is not mentioned in the document, although non aid policies have a tremendous role to play for developing countries being able to reach the MDGs as clearly stated by the EU. There are nevertheless references to some policy areas (trade, migration, ICT) where action could be taken to contribute better to the development objectives.

On trade, despite the positive impulse given by the EU side, the final agreed text is below expectations from a development perspective.

On the positive side, the document reaffirms the global commitment to the MDGs - which are at the core of European development policies.

It has a good balance between the respective commitments of developing and developed countries.

It has a strong focus on good governance.

It stresses the need for supporting national development policies and strategies oriented towards the MDGs.

It underlines the importance of achieving and maintaining macro-economic stability and an effective management of public finances.

It urges for increased ODA (regrettably without timetable) and it recognises the value of innovative sources of financing by mentioning all the options currently under consideration.

A major international challenge will now be to ensure that the additional funds for aid will result in real progress towards the MDGs at country level.

It is in this context that I have proposed a new joint Statement by the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission on the EU development policy, what I have entitled the European consensus on development.

If the Commission's proposal for a new Development Policy Statement is accepted, this would be the first time in 50 years of cooperation that a development document united Member States around shared values, principles and objectives. The ambitious undertakings made by Member States and Community to achieve the Millennium Development Goals provide a solid basis for this.

These EU commitments show there is a real, joint and visible effort from EU Member states to accelerate progress towards the MDGs.

We will remain just as committed to the follow-up of the World Summit and make sure that commitments are implemented.

Thank you.

Ref: SP05-283EN
Fuente UE: Comisión Europea
Foro NU:
Fecha: 22/9/2005

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