Today EU development ministers ended the EU Council meeting, which was chaired by German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, by adopting Council Conclusions for key topics on the agenda of the German EU Presidency. Germarn Development Minister and Council President Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul described the results of the Council meeting as an important step for European development policy. “The results of the Council meeting are a testimony to the success of the German EU Presidency in the area of development policy. Europe will meet its obligations towards poor countries even more effectively in the future. Africa is a particular focus of the decisions to strengthen the African Peace Facility, the energy partnership between Africa and Europe and the aid for trade provided for the ACP countries.”
Division of labour and complementarity
The Minister drew particular attention to the agreement on a code of conduct for the division of labour between the member states of the EU and the Commission. “The code of conduct is an exemplary milestone for the international donor community. This will make overall EU development cooperation more effective and bring it more into line with the needs of our partner countries. We want to put an end to the watering can principle. In some countries up to eight EU donor countries are active in the same sector. The necessary donor coordination is too much of a burden for the government of the country concerned.” In future, the overall volume of aid should increase, but there should be fewer donors working in each country and sector. The Minister added that the political will of all EU member states was needed for the implementation of the code of conduct.
EU Africa strategy and EU-Africa energy partnership
Africa is a particular focus of the German EU Presidency. Wieczorek-Zeul: “Our joint Africa Strategy is meant to lay the foundations for a stronger partnership between Africa and Europe. The ongoing negotiations show that all participants are willing to achieve long-term, close cooperation between our two continents. An essential part of this strategy will be the energy partnership for developing the use of renewable energies as well as energy efficiency and climate protection.” The strategy is to be adopted at the EU-Africa summit, which is scheduled to take place in Lisbon at the end of 2007.
African Peace Facility
The Council of EU Development Ministers emphasised that the EU member states can make individual payments to the Africa Peace Facility. As a result, the EU will for example be able to provide targeted support for African conflict resolution initiatives in a number of African conflict regions.
Commitments to increase spending on development
Wieczorek-Zeul: “In 2006, the EU provided a total of 48 billion euros to finance development, which is equal to 0.42 per cent of the European Union’s Gross National Income. This figure is higher than the Monterrey target for an increase to 0.39 per cent. I therefore feel that we are well on the way to achieving the further increases in the share of official development assistance to 0.56 per cent by 2010 and to 0.7 per cent by 2015.” The member states are called upon to submit a plan by the end of 2007 for achieving the 0.56 per cent target by 2010.
Economic partnership agreements and aid for trade
The European Council adopted Council Conclusions on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific region which make a good basis for concluding EPAs that are conducive to development. “The Council underlined that the EPAs must support development efforts and must therefore contribute towards reducing poverty and achieving sustainable economic development. The member states confirmed the goal of creating tariff- and quota-free access to the European market for all products – with a few transitional arrangements for particularly sensitive products,” said Ms Wieczorek-Zeul. “All the ACP regions have promised to conclude the negotiations for the Economic Partnership Agreements on time before the end of 2007.”
The Minister underlined the importance of promoting trade. “Today we have plotted a course that will enable the EU Commission and the member states to provide 2 billion euros a year in aid for trade for the developing countries, starting in 2010. We want to thus help the ACP countries make use of the benefits of the EPAs to their own advantage.” The joint strategy Aid for Trade is to be adopted in the autumn of 2007.
The Council of Ministers also adopted Council Conclusions on fighting HIV/AIDS, a code of conduct to prevent the poaching of trained health service personnel from developing countries, and a Conclusion on gender equality and the empowerment of women in development policy. In addition, Council Conclusions are also to be adopted under the German Presidency on productive, decent work.
