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GENERAL AFFAIRS &
EXTERNAL RELATIONS COUNCIL DEVELOPMENT CLUSTER
As reported in last week’s
PAF preparations are being made for a Development Cluster in the General
Affairs and External Relations Council meeting of 18/19 November.
Items currently slated for consideration in this part of the GA&ERC;
agenda include: (i) A report on the efficiency of the reforms being
undertaken in the external services of the Commission; (ii) A communication
on the participation of non state actors in the development process; (iii)
The Commission’s Annual Report on external aid. This will be the
first substantive report of its kind, as last year’s was presented only
as a prototype; (iv) A progress report on the drafting and adopting of
Country Support Strategies; (v) Proposals from the Commission on the untying
of aid; and (vi) Follow up to the Monterrey Financing for Development
Conference, and the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development.
In organising a development
cluster in this way the aim is to encourage member state ministers specifically
responsible for development to participate in this part of the agenda.
Interestingly, however, the same meeting of the GA & ER Council will
also be considering a Commission Communication on trade and development,
but this item seems not to be part of the development cluster.
The European NGO networks
will present positions covering many aspects of the development agenda.
They are also seeking the next discussion between Commissioner Nielson
and NGOs to take place before the Council meets, rather than on 22 November
as is currently scheduled. At the national level the development
NGOs are also being encouraged to seek meetings with their Development
Ministers/ Secretaries of State before the November meeting of the Council.
EU BUDGET 2003
The Development Committee
of the European Parliament has adopted a string of proposed amendments
to the Development Chapter of the draft 2003 EU budget. The aim of
these amendments is to strengthen the poverty focus of the EU’s aid, particularly
on basic health and education. A key aspects of the Development Committee’s
amendments included reducing the geographical budget lines by 2.5% in order
to enable other parts of the development budget can be financed.
The main beneficiary is a proposed € 61.65 million increase for the
EU’s contribution to the Global Health Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis
and malaria. The Development Committee justifies this on the grounds
that the Global Fund, which is considered to be fundamentally important,
will be used in all geographical regions and therefore the amendment will
not necessarily result in less aid from the EC for the different regions.
The reduction to the geographical lines is also to enable the retention
of separate budget lines for each region for reconstruction and rehabilitation,
which the Commission is seeking to incorporate within the overall regional
budget lines.
Other amendments seek the
restoration of the NGO co-financing budget line to its 2002 level (€
199.9 million through an increase of € 15.6 million), an additional
€ 3 million for the environment in developing countries line (to €
39.72 million), an increase of € 0.5 for integrating gender issues
in development co-operation (€ 2.5 million), maintaining the line
to integrate children’s rights in to development (€ 1 million), and
additional €6.05 million for the line on population and reproductive
health care (€ 20 million), and re-instating the line for development
and consolidation of democracy and the rule of law – Respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms ) through an increase of €15.5 million
(€ 94 million).
Another key part of the
Development Committee’s amendments is to strengthen the requirement that
the geographical budget lines (including Cooperation with the ACP but excluding
the Mediterranean line) allocate a “sum equivalent to 20% of total spending…to
actions in the fields of basic education and basic health”. Such
spending should be in lower income developing countries (on the DAC’s list
1). This aims to strengthen the existing requirement which sets a
benchmark of 35% allocated to “social infrastructure, mainly education
and health but also including macroeconomic assistance with social sector
conditionality.” In addition, the Development Committee is seeking
an increase in the number of countries where health and education are set
as priority sectors for the Community within Country Strategy Papers.
The Development Committee’s
amendments face opposition from within the Parliament, however. This
is principally from members within the External Relations Committee who
oppose any reductions to the geographical budget lines. Given the
margins available to the Parliament for increases to overall budget levels
for external actions it is impossible to achieve the Development Committee’s
objectives without cutting geographical lines. The Commission is
also opposed to the proposed requirements for social sector spending.
The next key stages of the
Parliament’s budget process will be a vote in the Budgets Committee on
1 to 3 October. In preparation for the vote the political groups
will be establishing their positions, and a meeting of co-ordinators takes
place on 25 September.
The European NGO networks
support the position taken by the Development Committee and will be producing
a briefing note to this effect within a few days.
INTEGRATING IMMIGRANTS
The informal meeting of
the Council for Justice, Home Affairs and Civil Protection was due to consider
the question of integrating immigrants into the EU, with the aim to “discuss
the possibility of establishing broad and global objectives within the
EU for the key elements of the integration process”. The draft working
paper, prepared by the Danish Presidency, asks whether it is necessary
to ”offer legally established immigrants rights and obligations that are
as close as possible to those enjoyed by the citizens of the European Union…
for economic, social, cultural and political life in the host countries?”
Other questions include: how to promote integration and access to the labour
market? How to organise cooperation between governments, local authorities
and civil society? And how to exchange experiences?
In a conference on the integration
of migrants held earlier in the week criticisms were made from civil society
contributors on the economic approach towards migration policies.
“Immigrants must be treated as human beings and not as human resources”
was one perspective that was expressed. Civil society representatives
called for immigrants to be granted civic rights – access to jobs, education
and professional training. Depending on the outcome of the Council’s informal
discussion more formal proposals can be expected at the next formal meeting
of the Council. This position was echoed by the European Parliament
which called on the EU to give legal immigrants with long term residency
rights “as close as possible” to those of EU nationals.
Meanwhile France has put
forward a plan to create special charter flights to deport illegal immigrants
from EU territory. The proposal, initially presented to EU asylum
and immigrant experts in July, is to coordinate the return of rejected
asylum applicants using charter aircraft to carry deportees rounded up
in several member states.
IN BRIEF
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