Mr President, while we are talking, in Sierra Leone the latest episode in a ten-year long tragedy is taking place. This civil war has been responsible for 50 000 deaths, 2 million refugees and the brutal mutilation of 40 000 men and women of all ages in a systematic campaign of terror. Most of Africa is affected by similar tragedies, including the tragedy affecting the Sahrawi people, with which we came face to face this morning just outside here. The other side to globalisation is poverty, the indebtedness of the poorer developing countries and the extension of those conflicts which reduce potential for development whilst exacerbating other conflicts and causing fresh poverty. This is why the recent EU-Africa Summit held in Cairo was so important. It reopened global dialogue with the countries of the African continent and, for the first time, associated the development aid policy with the upholding of democratic principles, rights and the fight against corruption. A long-term strategy is essential, and cancelling the debt is the starting point for such a strategy. As the resolution tabled by the European Socialist Party states, it is therefore important to increase the percentage of resources set aside by industrialised countries for the poorest countries, but, at the same time, the quality of our undertaking is also crucial. The resolution puts forward two major options: new sustainability criteria and greater flexibility for the more indebted countries, and the bilateral cancellation of the debts of the least developed ACP countries. These are initial, tangible recommendations, although, in future, we must avoid the repetition of the spiral of debt, with no checks on the choices made. Indeed, we are aware that it is not sufficient to cancel the debt if the other mechanisms determining all the policies remain unchanged. Cancellation of the debt must be conditional upon the use to which the resources thereby released are put. These resources must be invested in schools, hospitals and the human development of communities, not wasted, as still often occurs today, due to corruption or, what is worse, used to boost the arms trade and support ruinous wars. The global economy must be accompanied by a global policy; growth must go hand in hand with the upholding of human and civil rights and the consolidation of democracy. In order to avoid the spiral of debt, we therefore need to supplement the means for action: there must be greater cooperation, increased trade exchange, an increase in initiatives to prevent conflicts and more coherent opposition to corrupt, indebted governments which visit upon their citizens the hardship caused by crises and poor development. Our commitment to cancelling the debt is a precondition for the introduction of all the policies for reducing poverty. Resolution of the debt issue must be accompanied by actions promoting local development. In order to succeed, we need to harmonise national policies and supplement them with greater opening up of the markets. The recent EU-ACP agreements follow this rationale and provide assistance for the 31 least developed countries over a period of time which should end in 2005. In this context, it is essential to involve the private sector in order to boost trade exchange and, in addition to transferring resources, to create the necessary conditions for the growth of an internal market for developing countries, and provide incentives as well as laying down conditions.

Political group: PSE