Inter Press Service - October 26, 2004
Stefania Bianchi

They want "concrete action" in six areas of the European Union's (EU) development cooperation policy.

The groups say improvements must be made in the EU's responsibility towards and relationship with developing countries, the impact of its trade, security and migration policies, the powers of the European Commission in development cooperation, and the role of social groups in lobbying the bloc.

The Rome-based Society for International Development (SID presented its recommendations in the form of an 'Agenda for Action' to EU officials on the sidelines of an informal meeting of EU development ministers in Maastricht Tuesday and Wednesday (Oct. 26 and 27).

SID is an international non-governmental association of individuals and organisations with members and activities in 125 countries.

It says the Agenda for Action will act as a guideline for future decision-making and lay the foundations for a European network of researchers, policy-makers, social organisations and parliamentarians.

It also formalises conclusions drawn at a meeting of leading development experts last month.

Some 250 scientists, politicians, policy-makers and representatives of social organisations from Europe and the countries of the South explored relations between the EU's foreign, security, trade, and development policies at the SID conference on 'European Development Cooperation: Towards Policy Renewal and a New Commitment' in The Hague Sep. 27 and 28.

SID is urging the EU to accept its responsibilities in the world arena "to a much greater extent" by "more fervently supporting the interests of developing countries internationally".

Many NGOs recommend that the bloc increase its presence on an international level in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These include a 50 percent cut in hunger and poverty, universal primary education, gender equality, reduction of child mortality and elimination of HIV/AIDS -- all by 2015.

"The EU must adopt a unanimous position in various international fora: the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation and United Nations institutions. It would be even better, in the opinion of many conference delegates, if such coherence were anchored in the European Constitution," SID said in a briefing paper presented to EU officials Tuesday (Oct. 26).

The NGOs warn that when the EU redrafts its Declaration on European Development Policy of November 2000 under the next European Commission, the EU executive; more emphasis needs to be placed on these goals.

Development groups are also pushing for greater attention to be paid to "complementarity" aspect of the EU's development policy, namely the added value of the European Commission's development policy to that of member states.

The group of NGOS recommend that the commission be given "more room for manoeuvre" in order to increase the "effectiveness" of its external aid.

"The member states must impose far fewer regulations on the European Commission. At present, its powers are too much restricted by the bureaucratic procedures and regulations that have been imposed by the member states and the national and European parliaments," says SID.

It adds that European development aid as a whole should also be "greatly simplified, include clear poverty criteria, and fall under one single budget".

This point was highlighted at the SID conference by Poul Nielson, the outgoing EU commissioner for development.

"The European Commission has created a climate in which you quickly feel that you are acting outside the law when trying to achieve a practical objective. This is a result of the paralysing excess of often meaningless 'ex ante' regulatory measures which are prescribed to us by the member states and the European Parliament," he said.

A further conclusion drawn for the briefing paper is that "particular attention" must be paid to the consequences for developing countries of decisions in structural areas of policy such as trade, security and migration.

For trade, the NGOs are particularly concerned about the impact that European Partnership Agreements (EPAs) will have on the developing world.

These are reciprocal trade deals between the EU and 77 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) regions.

The negotiations are due to be concluded by December 2007, and the EPAs will be implemented between 2008 and 2020.

Civil society groups are calling for "a high level of flexibility" in the negotiations and stress that "room must be created for asymmetrical trade relations".

They say that this means that developing countries "should be allowed to protect their markets against foreign competition on a temporary basis".

In the area of security, the NGOs insist that the "heightened attention for security and anti-terrorist measures should not be detrimental to combating poverty", and say that steps should be taken to guard against "contamination" of the development budget by using it to finance other activities.

NGOs are also concerned about the nature of the relationships between the North and South.

The briefing paper says much more work must be done to create "true" partnerships between the developed and the developing world as "the current relationships between the EU and the developing countries are based on extreme inequality".

The NGOs say they also hope to lobby more at a European level and increase the pressure on national governments.

"This means that such organisations should adopt more pan-European structures. There are promises, assurances, grand plans and political agreements in abundance. However, the important thing is putting them into practice by releasing sufficient funds and by generating the political will for them and giving them high priority," says SID.

SID Europe programme coordinator Gordana Stankovic said SID will use the Agenda for Action to lobby for an improved EU development policy.

"We hope that we shall be able to further raise awareness about European Development Cooperation and the Agenda for Action among the politicians as well as general public on both national and European level," she told IPS.

SID also plans to present the Agenda for Action to the new European Commission in next month.

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+SID (http://www.sidint.org)

+EU (http://www.europa.eu.int) (END/IPS/EU/DV/ES/MD/IP/SB/RAJ/04)

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