There are certain parts of the world where the fact that this House is a co-legislator is sometimes forgotten. The current ALA Regulation was adopted ten years ago as a regulation for the Asian and Latin American countries. Since then, although Parliament has expressly requested two separate regulations for two very different regions, the Commission has yet again tabled one proposal by means of which it wants to update the existing regulation and intends, at the same, to incorporate the regulation on aid to uprooted populations, which will lapse at the end of next year. Anyone would think that this parliamentary resolution had never existed. The Committee on Development and Cooperation therefore proposes, via amendments, to split the regulation into two separate regulations, and, as rapporteur, I set great store by passing on to you its message. Needless to say, although there will have to be extensive consultation with the Council on this matter, it is clear to everyone that a distinction must be drawn. I should now like to focus on content. The Commission wants a 'lightweight legislative framework' for its actions in the area of development cooperation in both regions. As it happens, it has become a very lightweight framework indeed. As the Millennium Development Goals, in fact, stated, the key goal of development cooperation is the fight against poverty and its ultimate eradication. I fail to find this spelled out clearly in the Commission proposal, and nor does it contain other objectives, such as education, health care, environment and democratisation. My first point, therefore, is that 35% of expenditure should be set aside for social infrastructure, something we have included in the budget on a regular basis since 2001. At least 20% of this should be spent on basic health care and basic education, for these Millennium Goals have had a very raw deal to date. Secondly, education, in particular, is a very important instrument in the fight against poverty. Everyone is entitled to it and must have access to all forms of education, irrespective of their origin, gender or age. A disproportionately large number of the poor in developing countries are women, but they are often the very people who are denied this right. They are the water carriers. I would therefore emphatically call for gender mainstreaming, and even for extra attention for women and girls, not only in education and health care, but also in social, economic and especially political spheres. As full members of society, they should be able to play a part in the way it functions. Another important point is participation. The abortive negotiations of the WTO in Cancún clearly underlined once again that the developing countries demand full participation. They do not have it, either at governmental level, or at the levels below. It is therefore of crucial importance that all interested parties be consulted when the strategic documents, the annual indicative programmes and the annual action plans for development cooperation are drafted. By this I mean not only the government bodies at national, regional and local level, but also the members of parliament in those countries, the NGOs, the private sector and also all other actors involved in civil society. They know their own requirements like no other and can therefore give a clear indication of what is needed. This was also a key request made to us by people in the field. Only in this way can a form of ownership be established of the different areas of policy and actions in development cooperation for people at every level. It is important that this House should be, both now and in the future, involved as co-legislator in European development policy. The Commission must therefore put before Parliament the strategic documents to which I have referred. It seems obvious to me that, in this context, not only should a description be given of the sectoral and inter-sectoral priorities, as well as the specific objectives, but also of the expected results on the basis of adequate performance indicators. As a Dutchwoman and a Liberal, I attach great value to the useful and effective spending of taxpayers' money. This can only be verified if clear objectives and performance indicators are established. Finally, I should like to underline here once again that the European Union's cooperation with Asia and Latin America requires a modern legislative framework, in which both the fight against poverty and that against inequality have their own dynamism. I should like to warmly thank my fellow MEPs for their cooperation. We have had excellent discussions, and, while these have not always led to agreement, I think that the discussion on this subject should be regarded as of exceptionally great value in the light of our common goal.

Political group: ELDR