The Council agreed on a set of common views for the
World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Several challenges needed
to be addressed in relation to the economic, social and financial
dimensions of sustainable development, including poverty eradication,
making globalisation work for all, strengthening governance at
international level and providing the means to face such challenges
through adequate financing and technical assistance. All countries, both
developed and developing, had a role to play as well as mutual duties and
responsibilities in promoting economic growth, sustainable and
socially-inclusive development and environmental protection. 1) Financing
sustainable development. Mobilising international private and public
resources to finance sustainable development was essential. The Council
encouraged bilateral and multilateral development institutions to better
integrate social and environmental aspects in their policies and
practices. First and foremost, sustainable development and poverty
reduction were the primary responsibility of individual countries
themselves. Developing countries had a crucial role to play in ensuring,
through appropriate structural reforms and sound macroeconomic policies, that a stable and enabling environment was in
place for generating, attracting and channelling adequate – public and
private, domestic and international – resources to foster sustainable
development and poverty reduction. The main features of this environment
were good governance, the rule of law and appropriate institutional
capacities. Advanced countries should make efforts to increase their
development assistance in the context of their long-standing commitment to
reach the United Nations target of 0.7% of GNI for ODA. In view of this
goal, all the Member States of the European Union would strive to reach,
within their respective budget allocation processes, at least 0.33% of GNI
for ODA by 2006. More effective use of ODA was essential. Aid should be
directed towards the poorest countries which were strongly committed to
implementing a sound structural and macroeconomic policy, good governance,
poverty reduction and good policy environments. Another major priority was
the restoration of debt sustainability. On the debtors’ side, the Council
urged the group of HIPC countries that had not reached a decision because
of sizeable political difficulties, including armed conflicts or delays in
implementing economic programmes, to take all the necessary measures to
qualify for debt relief. Countries that had already qualified for debt
relief needed to continue their efforts. All creditors that had not yet
done so should provide their share of debt relief. In addition, all
countries should provide their share of multilateral financing. As regards
the question of ‘alternative financing instruments’, the Council restated
that each country should decide on the best way to provide additional
development financing and, in general, that this should be undertaken
within each country’s budget allocation processes. However, in addition to
opening their own markets and increasing the level and effectiveness of
ODA, developed countries could also contribute to development financing by
assessing further initiatives. Finally, the Council stated that it was
ready to assess the relevance of SDR allocations. 2) Sustainable
development in a globalised world. An open and fair multilateral trading
and financial system was a pre-condition for sustainable development and
poverty reduction. Developing countries should be assisted in
participating in this system through strengthened technical assistance and
capacity-building. Regional trade and financial agreements anchored in the
multilateral system should be encouraged and further developed. The
Council reiterated its support for the ‘Doha Development Agenda’ which it
wanted to see implemented according to the agreed timetable. The Council
was ready to play a leading role in the next trade round through, in
particular, the ‘Everything but Arms’ initiative, the improvement of its
trade-related technical assistance and capacity-building, and the new and
recently adopted EC Regulation on the Generalised System of Preferences.
The WTO members and all other countries were urged to avoid unilateral
actions that could undermine the multilateral trade system and jeopardise
the successful conclusion of the new world trade round. In this context,
the Council welcomed the recently launched WTO Global Trust Fund and
pointed out that the EU had pledged more than 60% of the
EUR 14 million needed for the Fund. Developing countries should
use trade liberalisation and improved market access as essential vehicles
for economic growth. Viable macroeconomic and structural policies and an
appropriate framework for investment were therefore of key importance in
attracting sustainable international private resources, including
primarily FDI. The international financial community should continue to
help strengthen the conditions for sustainable and stable private capital
flows to developing countries, inter alia through increased
transparency of both public and private economic actors, the
implementation of internationally-recognised codes and standards, and
appropriate prudential regulation and supervision of all financial
institutions. 3) Governance of the international financial system.
Reforming the international financial system and combating abuses of
financial globalisation were crucial to promoting sustainable financial
development. Managing these risks therefore required action to: - fight
the abuses of globalisation, including combating the financing mechanisms
of terrorism, preventing money laundering and financial crime,
strengthening supervision, regulation and information exchange policies,
especially in Offshore Centres, and addressing harmful tax practices; -
strengthen the role of international financial institutions in the global
architecture in order to reduce the risks posed by financial globalisation
and ensure that its benefits were shared by all, including the
poorest.