Resolution on the financing of development aid

The European Parliament adopted the resolution on the financing of development aid. Parliament calls on the Council to establish as a matter of urgency, in agreement with the Member States and during the Spanish EU Presidency, a firm timetable for increasing each Member State's public contribution to development policy to 0.7% of its GNP until 2007 according to the Irish example. The Parliament reiterates its commitment to the UN Millennium Declaration to reduce poverty by half, to provide full coverage of basic education for all children and to reduce the infant mortality rate by two-thirds by 2015. MEPs also want to see the EU look at alternative sources of financing development aid and support allocating the bulk of EU to the poorest countries. The new WTO round should focus on the need for development. The resolution recognises that trade is the single most important external source of development finance but emphasises that trade liberalisation should be carried out with a view to ensuring equal benefits for all countries and the promotion of sustainable development. The aim should be to promote a stable investment environment with due consideration given to 'micro-finance' for small scale rural projects. Furthermore, the Parliament wants to see a greater effort on the part of the developing countries to cancel the debt of the poorest countries, to take into account each country's capacity to raise the finance needed to reach the Millennium development goals. There is welcome for an international initiative on this and the EU is called upon to come up with a concrete proposal for the Monterrey Summit. More should be done to tackle disease and promote education and there is a call on Council to support increased democratic scrutiny of international financial institutions who manage aid programmes. It, on the other hand, deplores the fact that no clear reference is made in the draft resolution to the importance of mobilising additional resources in support of the privision of global public goods, for example the fight against poverty-related diseases - notably HIV/Aids, malaria and TB, - environment and climate protection, prevention of international crime, etc. Moreover, it urges the EU to make every effort at Monterrey to put this issue high on the agenda. Lastly, the Parliament calls on the Council to agree to the integration of the European Development Fund into the EC budget, in order to establish a transparent overall financial framework for EU development assistance.�