Sumario: EU Presidency Statement - Special High-level Meeting of ECOSOC with the Bretton Woods Institutions, WTO and UNCTAD (16 April 2007: New York)
Statement on behalf of the European Union, by the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Ms. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, on the occasion of the Special High-level Meeting of the ECOSOC with the Bretton Woods Institutions, the WTO and UNCTAD, in the ECOSOC Chamber, United Nations, New York
Mr. President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,* the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA Country Norway, member of the European Economic Area as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.
Mr. President,
Having just attended the Spring Meetings of the Bretton Woods Institutions in Washington, it is particularly important to come here to the United Nations to participate in the ECOSOC Special High-level Meeting. One of the most constructive aspects of the Monterrey follow up process is the integrated and coordinated contribution of the UN, the BWIs, the WTO, the UNCTAD and other major stakeholders. It is essential to preserve and build on this collaborative approach between organizations which
play a key role in the follow-up process and therefore in reaching the MDGs. Our common challenge to meet the internationally agreed development goals requires that international organizations complement - not compete with - each other.
Let me from the outset underline that the EU fully assumes its part of the shared responsibility for development. We are strongly committed to the implementation of the Millennium Declaration and internationally agreed development goals including the Millennium Development Goals.
The EU is currently fulfilling its internationally agreed commitments, but we recognize that over the next few years donors will need to continue to work hard to stay on track and meet our targets. On development finance, the European Union is proud to have collectively not only achieved, but surpassed already in 2005 the ODA target of 0,39% of gross national income - a target for 2006 which was agreed in Barcelona on the eve of the Monterrey Conference in 2002. In 2005 the
European Union has set new ambitious targets for 2010 and 2015. I am pleased to note that we are seeing continuing real and very substantial increases in ODA on our way to meet these targets.
On 1 January, the European Union welcomed another two new member states. All new member states have begun to make the transition to becoming donors and are committed to EU development policy.
Mr. President,
Improving the quality and effectiveness of aid is an important parallel with the increase of quantity of aid. This concerns the actions of bilateral as well as multilateral donors but also actions and commitments on behalf of recipient countries. The activities of emerging donors are broadening the options for growth and poverty reduction. We welcome new partners in consultations and joint efforts to improve harmonized and coordinated support in light of the experience made
by OECD-DAC.
We strongly encourage all donors to improve transparency of their aid and to follow internationally shared principles, such as the Paris Declaration and to take account of debt sustainability issues in all their lending practices and share fully information on their lending to low-income countries (such as discussions on principles of responsible lending by the G7).
Within the framework of the partnership between donor and recipient, good governance represents a prerequisite to ensure ODA effectiveness. The message conveyed by the Monterrey Consensus is that sustained economic growth and poverty eradication cannot be achieved without good governance. Consequently, good governance constitutes one of the key pillars of EU development cooperation, as laid down in the European Consensus adopted in December 2005. In the context of the European Consensus
for Development, the EU has recently adopted a common conceptual approach to governance and has initiated an incentive mechanism linked to ACP governments drawing up ambitious and credible governance plans.
The EU has a broad concept of democratic governance, understanding it as a multidimensional issue. The approach is to systematically incorporate the issue of democratic governance into the Union's development instruments through all Country and Regional Strategy Papers. In other words: The European Consensus aims at mainstreaming good governance. Furthermore, the EU stresses the importance of a partnership-based approach. The underlying view is that democratic governance cannot be imposed from
outside. Instead, ownership and dialogue are the two guiding principles.
Mr. President,
The challenge of achieving the MDGs calls for a strong, coherent and well coordinated multilateral system. The reform process of the UN's development cooperation therefore has always been an important issue for the EU. A more effective and efficient UN will be an even more important partner and catalyst in ensuring that development assistance delivers results and accelerates progress towards the MDGs. The EU therefore welcomes the report of the UN High Level Panel on System-wide
Coherence. We agree with the Panel that the UN's operational activities at country level need to be further strengthened and better coordinated. The EU also concurs with the Panel's vision of "delivering as one". It is important to bring together the UN's normative, analytic and operational expertise at country level in order to improve the effectiveness and visibility of the UN's operational development activities and to generate substantial gains for the UN's partner countries. The Panel's
proposal of the "four ones" (one programme, one leader, one budgetary framework and, where appropriate, one office) offer a good starting point.
Gender equality and women's empowerment are to be duly considered, applied and adequately resourced within the international community's efforts towards achieving sustainable development. The EU therefore notes that deficiencies arising from the current system fragmentation of the gender architecture are being addressed in the report. We also agree with the Panel members, that the commitment to gender equality should remain a mandate of the entire UN system.
Mr. President,
Enhanced cooperation between the UN system on one side and the International Financial Institutions on the other is in the interest of all stakeholders concerned. EU Member States are committed to promote this approach in the respective governing bodies.
The 2002 Monterrey Consensus encouraged the Bretton Woods institutions to "enhance participation of all developing countries and countries with economies in transition (DTC) in their decision making".
Giving these countries a strong voice in decision - making of the World Bank and the IMF is key to preserving these institution's legitimacy, effectiveness and credibility in the eyes of all stakeholders. It is also our common goal to forge an equitable globalization that benefits all countries - this requires reforming the governance of these sister institutions.
Governance reform within the Bretton Woods institutions must respond to, and reflect, important changes to the balance and economic structure of the Global World Economy. In this context, the EU strongly welcomes the current IMF reform process, initiated by the Board of Governors and that this process has also given a new boost to the debate on reform within the World Bank. The EU hopes that this momentum for reform will be seized upon and looks forward to a speedy and broadly supported
completion of the reform process.
Mr. President,
The EU underlines the importance of further improving the integration of developing countries into the world trading system and recognizes the important role of trade in achieving the MDGs. The EU remains fully committed to a universal, open, equitable, rules-based and non-discriminatory trading system and an ambitious, balanced and comprehensive agreement on the Doha Development Round that fully realizes its development potential. All member countries stand to gain from a successful
conclusion of the Doha Development Round. This promises still by far the biggest welfare gains for developing countries and is of paramount importance for their economic growth.
The EU calls on WTO-Members to secure the results of the WTO Ministerial conference in Hong Kong (2005), thus striving for the parallel elimination of all forms of export subsidies until 2013 as well as realizing duty-free and quota-free market access for products originating from least developed countries.
The EU attaches great importance to the Aid for Trade process in which UNCTAD due to its specialized knowledge has been and is inherently part. The EU will strengthen Aid for Trade irrespective of any outcome of the Doha Round. Within the EU, work on specific steps to implement a 2 billion Euro Aid for Trade commitment already started. The relevant Joint EU Strategy on Aid for Trade - to be adopted until the end of 2007 - will be inspired by the WTO Task Force's recommendations on Aid for
Trade. It should however be kept in mind that Aid for Trade is a complement and not a substitute to a successful outcome of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations, amplifying the development benefits that will flow from the conclusion of the Round.
Mr. President,
The European Union is currently providing 52 % of global ODA and is committed to reach the target of 0, 7 % of gross national income by 2015. In order to achieve our commitments, we also need to find new and predictable sources of financing.
As part of the Monterrey follow-up we therefore agreed "to consider the most promising options for innovative sources of financing for development, in order to increase the resources available in a sustainable and predictable way." (Council conclusions of 24.05.2005).
In the shortest possible time, three innovative financing mechanisms have been launched, resulting in an unprecedented mobilization of resources for development. One is the air-ticket solidarity levy, which finances sustainable access to affordable drugs to fight AIDS, TB and malaria through UNITAID, and which is now supported by almost 30 countries. Another is the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIM), which provides substantial support through GAVI for vaccination and
immunisation of children. The third is the Advanced Market Commitments (AMCs) initiative as an attempt to accelerate research for new and effective vaccines which will benefit the poorest countries. Many developing countries and industrialized countries have joined these initiatives.
Also, finding innovative ways of leveraging remittances as an effective source of finance for development - whilst fully respecting their nature as private flows - has attracted increasing attention over the last few years and is bound to continue doing so, as the numbers of migrants continues to grow. Once again in this field, the European Union is building upon successful experiences and strategies, such as simplifying and reducing transaction costs, improving access to financial services and
- on a voluntary basis - creating public-private alliances with the aim of carrying out community-based projects.
There are many ways of looking at innovative financing instruments. One way is to say that they are the response to the call that global tasks must be financed globally. Besides AIDS and the other pandemics, surely, managing climate change is such a global task. And I would like to invite all of us to reflect together what answers innovative financing instruments can give to this challenge.
Thank you.
* Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
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