Sumario: EU Commission President Barroso, EU Parliament President Borrell and UK PM Blair sign European Consensus reaffirming Europe's leadership in Development cooperation (20 December 2005: Brussels)
The Presidents of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell i Fontelles, and of the EU Council, Tony Blair, signed today in Brussels the first joint Development Policy Statement (DPS). This "European consensus" will provide the Union, for the first time in 50 years of development co-operation, with a common vision of values, objectives, principles and means for development.
Under the current Treaties, Development Policy is a shared competence. With the adoption of this Statement by the three EU institutions, the 25 Member States and the European Commission will share a single framework for a more efficient and more coordinated development policy. The EU is the biggest aid donor in the world, accounting for 55% of development assistance, 20% of which is managed by the Commission.
The EU is also the main trade partner of poorest countries: 40% of EU imports come from developing countries. The Union is the main importer of developing countries' agricultural products, more than the US, Japan and Canada together.
Through this statement, the EU reinforces its world leadership in Development cooperation. President Barroso said: "2005 has been a year for development and Africa, and Europe has led the way in the UN and G8, doubling aid, increasing aid for trade and securing agreement on the development package for trade at Hong Kong".
Last Saturday, the European Council endorsed the Development Policy Statement and decided also that the Council will make a regular assessment, on the basis of a Commission monitoring report, of the aid volume targets agreed in the Council conclusions of May 2005.
With the adoption of the DPS, the European Commission's Development Policy has achieved its three main objectives for the first year of President Barroso's mandate. "To do more, better and faster": this challenge, laid down in April by Louis Michel, the Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, synthesizes the set of proposals tabled by the Commission which have successfully gone through the Parliament and Council. Firstly, in May, the Member States agreed "to do more" by
undertaking to increase their Official Development Aid (ODA) significantly, with a new intermediate target of 0.56% of GNI in 2010 and an ultimate target of 0.7% in 2015. Secondly, on 12 December, the General Affairs and External Relations Council endorsed the EU Strategy for Africa to boost aid and accelerate progress there towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The DPS completes this ambitious policy.
Commissioner Michel said: "This is the most important political advance in the field of Development Policy. This Commission, under the leadership of President Barroso, has clearly indicated that it wants to make Development a priority. It is a small step for each one of us, but a big step for Europe and especially for developing countries."
The Development Policy Statement builds on the strong consensus that now exists on the MDGs and puts poverty eradication at the centre. It highlights the importance of the partnership with developing countries and the promotion of good governance, human rights and democracy, as a means of harnessing globalisation.
This "European consensus" sets development as a key element of the EU's external action along with the common foreign and security policy and trade policy. It also establishes links between development policy and other related policy areas such as migration, environment and employment. It recognises that the EU's relations with its developing partners require an ad-hoc 'policy mix' of aid, trade and other policies tailored to the needs of each partnership.
For further information:
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/development/body/development_policy_statement/index_en.htm
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