Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the increase in poverty, despite the gradual growth of world GDP over recent decades, the current tendency of Member States to reduce the funds intended for official aid to development in favour of direct investment, of which only 1% goes to the least-developed countries – which increases the gulf which separates those countries from the rich or developing countries – and the conviction that the globalisation process may increase the difficulties of the poor countries, are all factors which demonstrate the urgent need to improve the effectiveness of policies on development cooperation. In the field of democracy and respect for human rights we are also very far from the desirable parameters: coups d’états, violence, wars and violations of human rights are still realities in the least-developed countries. We must therefore contribute to correcting this situation. In this context, it is essential to strengthen the complementarity of policies on development cooperation implemented by the Community and the Member States. Firstly, because complementarity enables us to take advantage of the synergy resulting from a coordinated approach in the actions to be implemented, not only by the European Union but also by all the international donors, which will improve the impact of those actions. Secondly, because it contributes an element of added value to the Member States’ interventions, which will help to optimise the resources destined for development aid and to achieve better results. Thirdly, because it would improve the visibility of the European Union and make its development policy more credible, which will allow it to exert the political influence it deserves as the main provider of funds – let us remember that between half and two thirds of development aid comes from the European Union – and both the NGOs and the recipient countries would like this influence to be greater given that nobody is more sensitive than the European Union in the field of social justice and human development. Lastly, improving complementarity is important because the Treaty on European Union clearly establishes that the Member States and the Community must coordinate their policies on development cooperation and harmonise their aid programmes. That is why we must take a positive view of the Commission’s presentation of the communication on the complementarity of Community and Member States’ policies on development cooperation, since the measures it proposes may contribute to removing the obstacles which hinder significant advances in this area. In general terms, it can be said that the Committee on Development and Cooperation, and myself, are in agreement on the broad approach of the document and on the measures it proposes. Nevertheless, I would like to make some specific points. The first is that I consider that the Commission should have taken account of the fact that complementarity is not an isolated element, but should rather be dealt with within a context of a global strategy which also addresses the issues of coordination and coherence, since coherence is inseparable from coordination and complementarity, and, without coordination, complementarity is not possible. Therefore, I believe that, in order to really improve the impact of European development policies and safeguard the credibility of the Union, it would have been much more appropriate and would have made things much clearer if these aspects had been tackled jointly within the framework of the communication on development policy, since that would have better highlighted the essential and inseparable nature of these elements in relation to the formulation of a development policy in accordance with the Union’s objectives. My second point relates to the very concept of complementarity, which must not be viewed as a protective principle for preserving the competences of the Member States in this field, but as a manifestation of a political will to unite our efforts to improve and contribute more effectively to implementing the objectives of our policies on development cooperation. Furthermore, the need to ensure the unity, coherence and effectiveness of Union action in the field of external policy – which is also laid down in the Treaty – must extend to development policies, since these are an integral part of the Union’s external action. The Commission should therefore take the initiative and make a qualitative leap in that direction in order to allow the European Union to establish its strategic priorities in the field of development aid. Thirdly, I must say that it will be difficult for measures to strengthen complementarity, alone, to achieve the desired results. For that, the political will of the Council must, as a precondition, make progress towards greater integration in the field of cooperation, because what has hindered the progress of complementarity has been above all the fact that the Member States define their development cooperation policies more in accordance with their geo-strategic economic interests and their colonial pasts than with the objectives of the Union in relation to development. Lastly, we should repeat that, as well as the operative measures to improve the management of programmes, with which – as I have said – the Committee on Development and Cooperation is in agreement in principle, we believe that the Commission should take the responsibility for reflecting and making proposals, which is an essential requirement if the Union wants to direct aid not only towards promoting the economic growth of the beneficiary countries but also so that that growth will reach all sections of the population, thereby fulfilling its commitment to the development of peoples and, therefore, its commitment to peace, since, without development, peace will always be difficult to attain. In any event, and to sum up, I would like to reiterate the timeliness of this communication – even though we would have liked it to have been part of a global package – and say how fitting the measures are and that, together with the measures also proposed by the Committee on Development and Cooperation in my report, we hope that they will help to guide our action, providing better operational management. I should repeat once again that the Council must show signs of political will, without which it will be very difficult to make the principle of complementarity a reality.

Political group: PPE-DE