CONCORD Response to the Communication on the proposed Joint Declaration on the EU Development Policy CONCORD Policy Working Group September 2005

Transcription

1 CONCORD Response to the Communication on the proposed Joint Declaration on the EU Development Policy CONCORD Policy Working Group September 2005 On 13 July, the European Commission presented its Communication on the EU Development Policy to the European Parliament, launching the official debate with the Parliament and EU Member States in the Council. In a period in which the European Union has asserted that it wants to use its responsibility to lead an irreversible advance in the global response to poverty, it is vital that it is seen to be living up to its commitments by making development a high priority at EU level and by supporting improvements in the poverty focus of EU development aid. Ensuring the right outcome to the Development Policy Declaration process is a central underpinning of this ambition. Following the disappointing results of the UN World Summit in September, it is particularly essential that Europe demonstrate its leadership with a common Declaration on the European Union Development Policy that makes a bold statement on Europe s vision and commitments to development for the years to come. The declaration should more clearly name the vision and the objectives of development policy from the start. Development policy is not primarily about managing globalisation; it is about social justice and poverty eradication. The review of the Development Policy Statement should build upon the successes of the 2000 Statement and should examine its failures. Serious gaps remain between the EU s stated policy on development and its actual practice, and only a full debate on the underlying reasons for this will allow the EU to make the changes necessary in order to ensure that the EU s actions match its rhetoric when it comes to playing a leading role in the eradication of global poverty. For CONCORD, the inclusion of the following elements in the Declaration is welcome:! Joint statement including Parliament (if result is satisfactory)! Common EU statement, not just covering Community aid! Covers all developing countries! Inclusion of ODA commitments! Emphasis on human rights and new reference to women s rights under governance! Principle of shared responsibility and accountability between the EU and its partners! Supports increased involvement of Parliaments! The reference to Development Education and Public Awareness, although it should be mentioned in the first part of the Declaration, since it concerns the whole EU. However, we expect that the final Development Policy Declaration will properly address the following questions too: 1

2 PART I A European Union strategy for development Objectives of EU development policy The objective as spelled out in the 2000 Declaration was much stronger 1. The declaration should more clearly name these objectives from the start. Development policy is not primarily about managing globalisation; it is about social justice and poverty eradication. The term poverty reduction is therefore a step backwards and should be replaced by the reduction and ultimately the eradication of poverty within the framework of sustainable development, and the protection and promotion of social, economic and cultural rights. It is therefore vital for EU development policy to recognise a multidimensional and human rightsbased approach to the fight against the root causes of poverty. It should promote a model of society in which women are equal and in which they can actively contribute and participate. Human rights, including social, economical and cultural ones must be respected, and the environment protected. The Declaration must call for a commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a minimal basis of all development strategy, which must tackle not the consequences but the root causes of poverty. Gender equality needs to be mentioned as goal in its own right in Part I, with an explicit reference in 1.2. (EU values). Gender equality should be part of both human rights and social and human development objectives. Strategies to eradicate poverty cannot succeed without the effective promotion of gender equality in the EU s policies and practices in its relations with developing countries. Furthermore, because of the exceptional nature of HIV/AIDS, specific reference to this epidemic is needed and a clear commitment to the fight has to be integrated in the first part of the Declaration (under paragraph 1.3 of the Communication and Action Themes for the EU). Ownership and civil society participation The proposal s definition of a European approach to development policy overshadows its commitment to a policy which supports the development strategies of developing countries themselves; this commitment should be firmly stated from the start. Development policy is primarily about working with developing countries so that they can achieve their own development, rather than about supporting the EU s security or commercial objectives. As Louis Michel has stated, The EU should not impose, it should invite. We believe that no sustainable development policy will be successful without participative and inclusive approaches and the involvement of all concerned populations and groups in the definition, implementation and evaluation of this policy. For that purpose, we must devote time and means to set up a real framework for participation and dialogue. The Declaration should recognise and support civil society engagement and participation. The Declaration should call for strengthening the role of European civil society organisations in promoting North/South solidarity, mobilising public opinion and as interlocutors in policy debates. 1 "The main objective of Community development policy must be to reduce and, eventually, to eradicate poverty. This objective entails support for sustainable economic and social and environmental development, promotion of the gradual integration of the developing countries into the world economy and a determination to combat inequality." 2

3 Furthermore, an EU vision for proactive leadership towards effective multilateralism which is in line with genuine development partnership requires greater participation of poor people and countries within the structures of global economic governance. The declaration should state common goals for the EU in the international institutions: to bring the International Financial Institutions and the World Trade Organisation more solidly within the framework of the United Nations and of international and human rights law, and to increase participation of developing countries and transparency in decision making. Policy coherence for development Coherence needs to be clearly defined as meaning the coherence of other policies with development objectives 2, not coherence between policies. The Declaration must address EU policies that are undermining development (e.g. trade, Common Agriculture Policy). On security, there should not be an amalgam between terrorism and poverty; many other factors come before poverty as causes of terrorism, and poor people should not be viewed as threats. Trade and development The Communication is mainly focused on developing countries, there is nothing about effects of European internal policies, such as the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). A legitimate trade policy is one that contributes to sustainable development for all and fulfilments of the social, economic and cultural rights. The underlying assumption in the Communication is that properly sequenced market opening', the 'progressive integration of developing countries into the world economy', and 'economic growth' lead to development. The Statement needs to acknowledge that the relationship between economic growth and market opening on one hand, and poverty reduction on the other is by no means automatic and self evident. This misses a lot of the crucial supply-side issues such as health (including the impact of HIV/AIDS), education, and gender relations, and there is no mention of these at all. The Statement should acknowledge the right of developing countries to decide their own trade and development policies, including the possibility of protecting their producers and industries,, in order to address the challenges of sustainable development that works for poor people. The Statement also fails to mention reforming rules of origin in order to simplify them and to allow for global cumulation... Security and development The Communication acknowledges the nexus between development and the security, social and political dynamics of fragile and conflict-affected states. However, the link between development, security and terrorism should not be over-simplified; the role of governance as well as history and grievance cannot be under-estimated. The objectives and strategies related to the developmentsecurity relationship need to be made more explicit and directive and a common approach towards addressing these complex issues through a peacebuilding perspective needs to be expressed. The Statement needs to acknowledge that in post-conflict settings, development has an important role to play beyond institution-building through rebuilding the social fabric of societies and supporting (and at least not harming) peacebuilding and reconciliation processes. References to corporate social responsibility need to acknowledge that these principles need to be applied with specific sensitivities and guidance in conflict settings and fragile states. The Statement should also reflect that humanitarian assistance should be impartial, and 2 The OECD definition of policy coherence for development should be used, as quoted in the Commission s April 2005 Communication on this topic: Policy Coherence for Development means working to ensure that the objectives and results of a government s development policies are not undermined by other policies of that same government which impact on developing countries, and that these other policies support development objectives where feasible. 3

4 humanitarian policy and assistance should be independent of security objectives. PART TWO Guidelines for implementation of Development Policy by the Community Geopolitical motives become rather clear when, for instance under paragraph 2.1, reference is made to Middle Income Countries 3. Development policy geopolitical motives should be secondary to reducing and eliminating poverty. The numerous references to EC interests must therefore be removed. The aid in practice The statement should be more precise on the way in which it will deliver: For it to deliver there should for instance be a single financial instrument for poverty eradication in developing countries. The Communication is no clear on what the differentiated approach will mean in practice for middle-income countries vs. least developed countries. Allocation criteria are described as transparent, but are not detailed in the statement (e.g. what specific political criteria?). Moreover, concentration of aid on the poorest countries only applies to the section on human & social development. The declaration should clearly give primacy to factors of need in a single set of allocation criteria applicable to all developing countries. EC allocation criteria should be openly debated and finalized alongside the declaration. The Communication calls for strengthening aid effectiveness and for greater coordination, harmonisation and alignment. What is not mentioned in the Communication is the need for improved coordination within the Commission. The internal organisation of the Commission has to be mentioned under aid effectiveness. The DAC Peer review of 2002 recommended to strengthen the focus on results and aid effectiveness and to "clarify the structural responsibilities within the "RELEX family" for the allocation of resources to all developing countries and consider whether one entity should be responsible for managing all aid programmes (from policy formulation to implementation." There should be a final section detailing how the Commission will assess and report on the results and implementation of its development policy. This should mention the Annual Report and its scope and focus; the mid-term report on policy coherence for development; and annual reporting on existing EC commitments related to Monterrey, ODA, and harmonisation. There should be an annual report on aid effectiveness in the Union, and potentially on the mainstreaming of all crosscutting issues. Funding for Development - On budget support The Communication states that general or sectoral budget support will play an increasingly predominant role in the implementation of European aid. Promoting budget support is in principle positive. However, certain conditions must be respected: budget support must be implemented in transparent frameworks, allowing civil society organisations to monitor and scrutinise its implementation and to assess its impact. Budget support must not be a means to impose additional conditionality on developing countries. - On innovative sources of financing 3 "Many middle-income countries are strategic players with an important role in global political, security and trade issues, producing global public goods and acting as regional anchor countries." 4

5 The Declaration should mention the new sources of financing that the Commission would like to promote (tax on airplane tickets ) and to stress that these new mechanisms must be additional to ODA traditional targets and stable. - On debt relief The EU should make an overarching commitment to the total cancellation of unpayable debt on basis of human development needs, and to the exclusion of debt relief from the definition of ODA. For all those countries having difficulty in reaching the Millennium Development Goals, full debt cancellation needs to be provided, covering all bilateral and multilateral debts. While being accountable, this debt relief should not have harmful economic policy conditions attached. Social and human development Social and human development seems to be confined to a thematic strategy rather than serving as an overall core objective. The Communication contains no mention of basic social services. However, the preconditions of human development include health, education, human rights protection and access to the resources and basic social services needed for a decent standard of living and participating in community life. Development policies must strength the capacity of recipient countries to better manage social services, avoiding any kind of privatisation of those in the framework of bilateral agreement or new mechanisms of financing. We welcome the reference to social cohesion and employment and particularly to the notion of decent work. That must imply a partnership with the International Labour Office (ILO) in order to assess the role of European policies in promoting employment. Regarding the principle of concentration, Action themes for the EU (Part I) are too broad to be meaningful and the Community thematic concentration section is too detailed, it seems to be a catalogue of activities rather than strategic direction. The specific contribution of Community focal areas to poverty eradication should be clarified. CONCORD Policy Working Group September