7. Coherence of different Union policies with development policy
B5-0117, 0120, 0121, 0122 and 0123/2000
European Parliament resolution on the coherence of the various policies with development policy
The European Parliament,
qdash having regard to the Treaty on European Union,qdash having regard to the Council Resolution on 5 June 1997 on ’coherence of the EC’s Development
Cooperationwithitsotherpolicies’which focussedontheareasofpeacebuilding,conflictpreventionand resolution, foodsecurity, fisheries and migration,
qdash having regard to Article 12 of the Lomé Convention on coherence of Community policies and their
impact on the implementation ofthe ACP-EC Agreement,
qdash havingregardtotheCouncil’sDeclarationonDevelopmentPolicyfortheYear2000of18November
1992, recognising the linkage between development cooperation and other Community policies aswell as the need to take into account their impact on developing countries,
qdash having regard to the Council’s request to the Commission that it submit annual reports on the pro-
gressmadeinthisfield,aswellasproposalsforfutureactivities,andtoitswishtobeabletoconsiderthe first such report during the second half of1998,
A. recalling thattheTreatyonEuropeanUnionestablishesthattheCouncilandtheCommissionshallbe
responsibleforensuring theconsistencyoftheUnion’sexternalactivities asawholeinthecontextofexternal relations, security, trade, economic and developmentpolicies and shall ensure the implemen-
tation ofthese policies, each in accordance with its respective powers,
B. whereas the chapter on Development Cooperation (Title XX, Article 178) of the Treaty establishing
the European Community provides that the Community shall take account of the objectives referredto in Article 177 in the policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries,
C. recalling that Article 177 indicates the objectives of the European Community development pro-
gramme as follows: sustainable economic and social development, the campaign against poverty andthe integration ofdeveloping countries into the worldeconomy,
D. whereastheCouncilresolutionofJune1997implicitlyacknowledgesthatthereisalackofcoherence
ofsomeof the EU’s policies in relation to its development cooperation policy,
E. whereas this lack of coherence has been observed in several areas to hamper the effectiveness of the
EU’s development policy and, by implication, the development of recipient countries,
F. recalling that the Council requested the Commission to provide annual reports on progress made in
this area and proposalsfor further action, the first of which the Council would discuss in the secondhalf of1998,
G. noting that the Commission has not provided any report on the implementation of the aforemen-
tioned resolution, despite repeated requests in the Council,
H. whereas the Council resolution identified four specific areas where policy coherence is particularly
important (peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution; food security; fisheries; migration) butwhereas several delegations also noted the importance of ensuring policy coherence in other areassuch as agriculture, trade and the environment,C 339/258 EN29.11.2000 Official Journal ofthe European Communities
Thursday 17 February 2000
I. whereas no significant progress can be achieved in terms of sustainable development unless the EU
andother majorproducersopentheir marketstodeveloping countries’ products,endsubsidieswhichare harmful to the agriculture exports of the development countries; stressing the need to promotelocal production,
J. deploring the lack of a coherent approach by the Commission in its human rights policy, which
adopts different standards both in terms of promotion and sanctions, depending on geographicalareas ofintervention,
K. whereas protection of the environment cannot be marginalised to specific programmes only, but
shouldbe a structural componentofthe whole developing policy,
L. whereasconflictpreventionandinparticular armstraderestrictionswiththirdcountriesshouldbean
essential element ofthe EU strategy towardsdeveloping countries,
M. concerned thatthe failure toimplementpolicies thathave been agreed willdecrease thelegitimacy of
the European institutionsin the public’s perception,
N. noting with concern that the Community’s interpretation of WTO rules, and notably Article XXIV of
GATT concerning the establishment of Free Trade Areas, is very strict and not tuned to the need toallowthe necessary flexibility in trade negotiations involving developing countries,
O. noting that the Community’s Common Customs Tariff (CCT) favours the import of raw materials as
opposed to processed goods and tariff peaks largely concern products of prime export interest todeveloping countries such as textiles, clothing and food products, thereby working against theEU development objective to promote sustainable local production and the strengthening of the localeconomy in developing countries,
P. noting that the planned review of the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights provision on life
patents could have negative effects on the access to seeds by farmers in developing countries;
Q. worriedbythemanoeuvringbycertaintransnationalEuropeanfirmsinflagrantbreachoftheUnion’s
developmentobjectives, especiallywhen theyexport productssuchasmedicines, foodstuffsandpesti-cides sales ofwhich are banned in the Union,
R. regretting that the trade section of the Directorate-General for Development has been transferred to
the Directorate-General for Trade,
S. noting further that the external EU fisheries policy may result in negative impacts on fish stocks and
upon the localfishing industry,
T. considering the manifestimbalance between the Union’sstateddevelopmentobjectives andthe orien-
tation of its budget, in particular the cuts made in the 2000 budget in development cooperationspending,
1. Requests the Council and the Commission to ensure that export and investment credits are more
consistentwith the EU’s development policy objectives,
2. Urges the Commission to publish without further delay an annual report on policy coherence in
connection with development cooperation;
3. Calls upon the Commission to treat as a matter of urgency the need to prioritise policy coherence
and develop proactive and preventive mechanisms for achieving this;29.11.2000 EN C 339/259 Official Journal ofthe European Communities
Thursday 17 February 2000
4. Callsonthe Council to takeurgent action wherever required toremedy any observed lack ofcoher-
ence andthusensure theeffectiveuseoftheEU’sresourcesaswellastheadvancementofitsstateddevel-opment cooperation objectives;
5. Calls on the Council to formulate common strategies and consistent standards in terms of poverty
eradication, human development, environment, human rights and good governance in order to improvethe development policies of the 15 Member States;
6. Calls on the Commission to reorganise its services and the distribution of its portfolios, in order to
coordinate better the various aid policies and to ensure ambitious and uniform aid policies in all geogra-phical areas;
7. Asksfor the establishment of an inter-service working group on coherence, comprising the Directo-
rates-General of the Commission whose policies are likely to impact on European Union developmentpolicy including the Directorates on agriculture, fisheries, research, trade, external relations and develop-ment;
8. Calls on the Commission to consider the introduction of coherence-watch in particular as regards
development cooperation, to prevent unintended incoherence of policies from arising in this area, includ-ing the setting up ofa complaintsprocedure open to governments and civil society organisations;
9. Callson the Council and the Commissionto undertake proper measures in order to gradually make
the CAP and the fisheries policy more compatible with the aims ofthe EU development policies;
10. Also urges that in the forthcoming negotiations for a new WTO round, these same principles of
policy coherence should be discussed and decided upon in order to protect the interests of all developingcountries and especially the LDCs;
11. Believes that partial or total suspension of aid and other sanctions should also be harmonised by
adopting a coherent criterion of intervention to be applied in all developing countries, regardless of theirgeographical location;
12. Emphasises the importance of a standard environmental clause in agreements with developing
countries and the promotion of compliance by all parties to the objective of sustainable development asdefined by the Cardiff Process and the relevant UN commitments(Rio, Copenhagen, etc.);
13. Reiterates the need to apply coherent policies in the area of arms trade, in order to guarantee the
control and limitation of arms sales to countries at risk in accordance with the EU code of conduct onarms exports;
14. Draws attention to the continuing tragedy of anti-personnel landmines and their impact on the
implementationofarangeofCommunityandMemberStateprogrammes,includingdevelopmentpolicies,and requests the Commission and the Council to report on the recent measures that they have taken toimprove the coherence, coordinationand effectiveness ofEU mine action;
15. Callsonthe Commissiontotakeintoaccountthe policy coherence in allinternational cooperation
negotiations that the EU negotiates with developing countries or groups ofdeveloping countries;
16. CallsupontheMemberStatestotakeappropriateactiontoensurepolicycoherenceatnationaland
EU levels;
17. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen the role of institutions such as
Unctad, to use the Tenth Unctad Conference in Bangkok as an opportunity to assess in detail consistencybetween trade, liberalisation and development policies, in particular as regards the fate ofthe poorest sec-tions ofthe world’spopulation;
18. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments
and the parliaments ofthe Member States and to Unctad.C 339/260 EN29.11.2000 Official Journal ofthe European Communities
Thursday 17 February 2000