P6_TA(2007)0014

Mainstreaming sustainability in development cooperation policies

European Parliament resolution on mainstreaming sustainability in development cooperation policies (2006/2246(INI))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Articles 177, 178, 179, 180 and 181 of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to the Renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy adopted by the European Council in Brussels on 15- 16 June 2006, and to the previous EU Sustainable Development Strategy adopted by the European Council in Gothenburg in 2001 and to the external dimension of the Strategy added by the European Council in Barcelona in 2002,

- having regard to the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation adopted by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002,

- having regard to Agenda 21 adopted at the United Nations (UN) Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992,

- having regard to the Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 by Members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States of the one part and the European Community and its Member States of the other part [1], in particular Articles 19, 23 and 32 thereof,

- having regard to the Millennium Declaration adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set out therein and the 2005 UN Report "Investing in Development",

- having regard to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness adopted on 2 March 2005 at the Paris High Level Forum,

- having regard to the 2002 Monterrey Consensus adopted at the UN Conference on Financing for Development,

- having regard to the Commission Communication entitled "EU Aid: Delivering more, better and faster" (COM(2006)0087), and the Conclusions of the General Affairs and External Relations Council based on it dated 11 April 2006,

- having regard to the Joint statement by the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission on European Union Development Policy: "The European Consensus" ("the European Consensus on Development") [2] signed on 20 December 2005,

- having regard to the EU strategy "The EU and Africa: Towards a strategic partnership", adopted by the European Council in Brussels on 15- 16 December 2005 and the Commission Communication proposing "An EU-Caribbean Partnership for Growth, Stability and Development" (COM(2006)0086),

- having regard to the Commission Communication entitled "On the review of the Sustainable Development Strategy: A Platform for Action" (COM(2005)0658),

- having regard to the Commission Communication entitled "The 2005 Review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy: Initial Stocktaking and Future Orientations" (COM(2005)0037) and its Annex (SEC(2005)0225)),

- having regard to the Commission Communication entitled "Policy Coherence for Development: Accelerating progress towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals" (COM(2005)0134),

- having regard to the Commission Communication entitled "Water management in developing countries policy and priorities for EU development cooperation" (COM(2002)0132),

- having regard to the EU Water Initiative launched at the WSSD in Johannesburg in 2002,

- having regard to the European Energy Initiative adopted at the WSSD, and the Commission Communication entitled "On the future development of the EU Energy Initiative and the modalities for the establishment of an Energy Facility for ACP-countries" (COM(2004)0711),

- having regard to the Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and the six regions of the ACP countries due to enter into force in 2008,

- having regard to the Doha Work Programme, adopted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) General Council on 2 August 2004,

- having regard to the report on the fourteenth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, 22 April 2005 and 1- 12 May 2006,

- having regard to the Communication from Mr Almunia to the members of the Commission entitled "Sustainable development indicators to monitor the implementation of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy" (SEC(2005)0161),

- having regard to the Commission Communication entitled "EU Strategy for Africa: Towards a Euro- African pact to accelerate Africa's development" (COM(2005)0489),

- having regard to the Commission Communication entitled "Accelerating progress towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals — Financing for Development and Aid Effectiveness" (COM(2005)0133),

- having regard to the Commission Communication entitled "Speeding up progress towards the Millennium Development Goals: The European Union's contribution" (COM(2005)0132),

- having regard to the publication of the UN Conference on Trade and Development entitled "Economic Development in Africa — Rethinking the Role of Foreign Direct Investment" of 2005,

- having regard to the Economic Report on Africa 2004 entitled "Unlocking Africa's Trade Potential" by the UN Economic Commission for Africa,

- having regard to the 2001 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) report entitled "The DAC Guidelines: Strategies for Sustainable Development",

- having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee entitled "Assessing the EU Sustainable Development Strategy" of 28 April 2004,

- having regard to the Commission Communication entitled "Climate Change in the Context of Development Cooperation" (COM(2003)0085),

- having regard to the Commission Staff Working Document entitled "Integrating environmental considerations into other policy areas — a stocktaking of the Cardiff process" (COM(2004)0394),

- having regard to the Commission Communication entitled "Fighting Rural Poverty: European Community policy and approach to rural development and sustainable natural resources management in developing countries" (COM(2002)0429),

- having regard to the Synthesis Report on the "Evaluation of the Environment and Forest Regulations 2493/2000 and 2494/2000" of November 2004 commissioned by the Evaluation Unit common to the EuropeAid Cooperation Office, Directorate General for Development and External Relations Directorate General,

- having regard to the Commission proposal for a Council Regulation concerning the establishment of a voluntary FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) licensing scheme for imports into the European Community (COM(2004)0515),

- having regard to the Commission Staff Working Document entitled "Integrating the environment into EC economic and development cooperation" (SEC(2001)0609),

- having regard to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, 2000,

- having regard to its resolution of 15 January 1999 on EU standards for European enterprises operating in developing countries: towards a European Code of Conduct [3],

- having regard to its resolution of 1 June 2006 on small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries, [4]

- having regard to its resolution of 6 April 2006 on Aid effectiveness and corruption in developing countries, [5]

- having regard to its resolutions of 18 January 2006 on the environmental aspects of sustainable development [6] and of 15 June 2006 on the revised sustainable development strategy [7],

- having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Development (A6-0474/2006),

A. whereas Sustainable Development, as defined by the 1987 Brundtland Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, means that the needs of the present generation should be met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs; whereas it is necessary, in particular, to safeguard the earth's capacity to support life in all its diversity, respect the limits of the planet's natural resources and promote sustainable production and consumption in order to break the link between economic growth and environmental degradation,

B. whereas the concept of Sustainable Development has been a fundamental objective of the EU since 1997 when it was incorporated as an overarching principle into the Treaty, and as such should underpin all policies and activities of the EU,

C. whereas the concept of Sustainable Development does not consider social, environmental and economic issues as contradicting one another but rather as being interdependent and mutually reinforcing,

D. whereas one of the key objectives of the above-mentioned Renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy is to actively promote Sustainable Development worldwide,

E. whereas EU development cooperation is aimed at fostering the sustainable economic, environmental and social development of developing countries and the smooth and gradual integration of the developing countries into the world economy, and at contributing to the campaign for poverty reduction in developing countries,

F. whereas the continuation of unsustainable trends in both the developed and the developing countries in many areas such as land resources, transport, climate change, fisheries, depletion of biodiversity or the consumption of resources has above all a negative effect on the poor in the developing countries,

G. whereas over 1 billion people, mainly in the least developed countries (LDCs), live in extreme poverty on less than USD 1 a day, and between 1,5 and 3 billion people live below the USD 2 a day poverty line,

H. whereas two in three of the world's poor live in rural areas and depend on natural resources for their livelihood [8], forests support the livelihood of 90 % of the over 1 billion people living in extreme poverty [9], and over 1 billion people worldwide, mostly in poor communities, depend on fish to supply at least 30 % of their animal protein [10],

I. whereas the Official Development Assistance (ODA) flows to Africa are still significantly below the 1990 peak and it is estimated that there is a shortfall of between USD 20-25 billion annually,

J. whereas the EU Member States have committed themselves to achieving the ODA target of 0,7% of gross national income (GNI) by 2015, and the new Member States to increasing their ODA/GNI to 0,33 % by 2015,

K. whereas the eradication of poverty can only lead to sustainable consumption and resource management patterns in developing countries if it is embedded in efforts aimed at better levels of education, health and institutional capacity; whereas combating poverty will only yield positive results if environmental and natural resources are managed in a sustainable manner,

L. whereas compliance with democratic standards, and the establishment and strengthening of transparent and efficient State institutions and administrative capacity in particular, are crucial for tackling effectively the economic, social and environmental challenges in developing countries,

M. whereas corruption undermines aid effectiveness, thus undermining EU development policies and constituting a serious impediment to development in EU partner countries,

N. whereas new approaches are needed to make markets work towards attaining Sustainable Development and the private sector should work towards realising equitable and sustainable societies,

O. whereas the absence of effective legal systems and of economic and intellectual property rights constitutes a major obstacle to establishing an investment climate that can trigger sound economic development, and thus social progress in many LDCs,

P. whereas sound development policies and substantial development aid are important, but will not bring about any changes in Sustainable Development unless they are effectively translated into coherent development actions in the recipient countries, which need to recognise and sustainably address environmental opportunities and threats,

Q. whereas the above-mentioned publication entitled "Economic Development in Africa — Rethinking the Role of Foreign Direct Investment" demonstrates that linking aid to environmental protection may effectively reduce poverty,

R. whereas illegal logging causes environmental damage, costs governments in developing countries billions of dollars in lost revenue, promotes corruption, undermines the rule of law and good governance and funds armed conflict,

S. whereas 2,6 billion people, or over 40 % of the global population, do not have access to basic sanitation, and whereas 1 billion people use unsafe sources of drinking water,

T. whereas the continuation of pollution, degradation and depletion of natural resources could lead to conflict situations in many developing countries,

U. whereas the economies of developing countries are weakened by fluctuations in energy prices and suffer from a lack of energy diversification, with such countries often spending a significant portion of their trade surpluses on energy imports, something which adversely affects the stable development of the economies of those countries,

V. whereas strong population growth is one of the challenges for Sustainable Development on account of the misuse of natural resources, leading to serious environmental degradation,

1. Welcomes the fact that the above-mentioned Renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy reiterates the promotion of Sustainable Development worldwide as one of its key objectives;

2. Welcomes the fact that the above-mentioned European Consensus on Development sets as a primary and overarching objective of EU development cooperation the eradication of poverty in the context of sustainable development;

3. Considers that the promotion of sustainable economic growth and the eradication of poverty while ensuring environmental protection are among the most crucial challenges of EU development cooperation policies and cannot be achieved without setting social and environmental objectives, which include environmental protection and fair access to and sharing of the benefits of natural resources;

4. Stresses that a shift towards more equitable access to and distribution of natural/energy resources is a precondition for Sustainable Development and an intrinsic element of human dignity;

5. Welcomes the inclusion in Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation [11] of a thematic programme for environment and sustainable management of natural resources including energy;

6. Emphasises the need to ensure that the three components of Sustainable Development, namely environmental protection, social equity and cohesion and economic prosperity, are properly integrated and implemented in all development cooperation policies; urges the Commission to regularly review this process;

7. Calls for strengthened mechanisms for monitoring progress towards meeting the targets set in the above-mentioned Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and the MDGs, such as a stronger commitment to Sustainable Development, ensuring the integration of the economic, social, environmental aspects of Sustainable Development, and promoting the rule of law and public institutions and others;

8. Recalls that Sustainable Development is a cross-cutting issue that requires a strengthening of policy coherence in all sectors in order to ensure their smooth functioning;

9. Stresses that more efforts are needed to combat current unsustainable developments, particularly those giving rise to greenhouse gas emissions, the depletion of fish stocks and the loss of biodiversity; with regard to the last, urges all relevant stakeholders to take the appropriate measures to actually achieve the objective of reversing the loss of biodiversity by 2010;

10. Urges the Commission to intensify its efforts to mainstream environmental concerns such as natural resource management in key areas of development policies;

11. Calls on the Commission to adjust the way in which it provides aid to bring it into line with the national Sustainable Development strategies of the countries to which it provides that aid;

12. Calls on the EU to advise developing countries on how to develop their capacity to assess the environmental impact of their natural resources and resource management policies, which could then be implemented as part of cooperation programmes with those countries;

13. Reiterates the critical importance of monitoring of the EU's world ecological footprint, since it demonstrates the EU's commitment towards promoting Sustainable Development worldwide;

14. Emphasises the importance of protecting biodiversity and suggests that this either be added as a new key issue within the Sustainable Development Strategy, or at least be given special emphasis within the section on the management of natural resources;

15. Calls on the Commission to work with ACP countries to prevent illegal dumping of toxic waste both by local operation and by international handlers originating and operating in the EU;

16. Emphasises the urgency of helping developing countries to adapt to the challenges of climate change and to take the necessary steps towards enhanced support for investment in clean and efficient technologies in the developing world; also recognises the urgency for the EU to meet and go beyond its emission reduction targets to help limit dangerous climate change, which would impact developing countries and the poorest most severely;

17. Calls on the EU to take the necessary measures to help our developing partners to honour the commitments which they have entered into during the recent world negotiations on a Sustainable Development strategy and particularly on combating climate change, from which their people are the first to suffer (Kyoto, Monterrey, Doha, Johannesburg);

18. Encourages the development and dissemination of alternative energy technology and emphasises the urgency of substantially increasing the global share of renewable energy sources;

19. Calls on the Commission to initiate projects with European corporations specialised in renewable energy that facilitate and enhance the transfer and use of environmentally-friendly sources of energy for individual and corporate use in developing countries;

20. Stresses that infrastructures can be an essential element of Sustainable Development if they comply with environmental and social guidelines and calls on the Commission to ensure that Strategic Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Assessments are undertaken and made publicly available for every programme and project receiving EU financial support, in particular the EU-Africa Partnership on Infrastructure proposed by the Commission in its Communication to the Council and the European Parliament (COM(2006)0376), which will provide support for trans-border infrastructure projects, which could help to close gaps in regional infrastructure projects and which — in accordance with the above-mentioned European Consensus on Development — should give all Member States the opportunity to submit appropriate project proposals, irrespective of any direct contribution;

21. Notes that the economic sustainability of each and every infrastructure project — if appropriate, in conjunction with reforms in charging policy — should be ensured and that ecological sustainability must not be jeopardised;

22. Recognises the number of cross-border and shared water resources in Africa, the vulnerability of water resources to climate change, over-abstraction, and pollution; calls on the Commission to promote integrated water resource management within the EU-Africa Partnership on Infrastructure to ensure the provision of water for human well-being and ecological sustainability;

23. Recognises that the environmental and social impact of large infrastructure projects can be severe; suggests that the criteria provided by the World Commission on Dams, which include options analysis and public participation, form the basis for decision-making in relation to large dam projects;

24. Calls for an increase in the share of development aid for projects related to raising awareness of environmental and health issues;

25. Regrets that the external dimension of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy is not linked more closely to public health issues such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis; stresses that these issues must be tackled within the EU and globally;

26. Stresses that the involvement of civil society, NGOs and in particular women in the debate and the decision-making process relating to Sustainable Development is vital for raising public awareness of the issue; insists on the importance of education for cultivating sustainable ecological choices, especially among poorer populations;

27. Calls on the Commission to support capacity building and the participation of local communities and indigenous peoples in developing countries in accessing, controling and managing natural resources;

28. Stresses that enhanced participation requires transparency in the provision of relevant information and improved accessibility of EU documents;

29. Calls for the establishment of sustainable development indicators to be applied in relation to EU development cooperation policies and for strengthened reporting and tracking mechanisms relating to biodiversity and environmental sustainability;

30. Calls for a far more serious commitment on the part of new and old Member States to achieve the goal of contributing 0,7% of ODA/GNI to development cooperation;

31. Emphasises the importance of achieving compatibility between multilateral environment agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol and the WTO framework, particularly with respect to the application of Article XX of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) concerning areas of general exceptions made with respect to measures such as: (b) measures necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health; and (g) measures relating to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources if such measures are made effective in conjunction with restrictions on domestic production or consumption; reaffirms in this respect the role of impact assessment of environmental sustainability in connection with trade proposals;

32. Calls on the USA, China and India to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and, jointly with the EU, to assume responsibility for worldwide Sustainable Development;

33. Stresses that the EU should reconsider the harmful effect of export subsidies on developing countries, and particularly on LDCs, and should make greater efforts to abolish them through international trade negotiations;

34. Reaffirms the importance of debt relief for LDCs whose governments respect the principles of human rights and good governance;

35. Believes that the European Sustainable Development Network could serve as a focal point for the Member States to exchange experiences and share best practices through, peer review mechanisms, for example;

36. Believes that the establishment of a permanent advisory and monitoring body for Sustainable Development, which would include Member States and civil society representatives and would scrutinise the mainstreaming of the concept into EU policies and programmes, with a particular focus on development cooperation, would be of great importance and crucial to supporting the Commission's internal Interservice Group on Environmental Mainstreaming in Development Cooperation;

37. Emphasises that developed countries should be at the forefront in promoting the concept of Sustainable Development;

38. Emphasises that Sustainable Development goes together with sustainable institutions, hence the need for constraining measures such as linking debt relief to respect for human rights and good governance; believes that this could initiate a donor-donor dynamic and constitute development cooperation based on the principles of equality, partnership and ownership;

39. Stresses the importance of strengthening Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) as a key tool for promoting environmental, social and economic development in developing countries; therefore calls for intensified efforts, together with partner country authorities, in designing policies, programmes and projects that favour the development of SMEs operating in accordance with the principles of Sustainable Development; reiterates its proposal to support and finance regional institutions promoting SMEs;

40. Calls on the Member States of the OECD to help developing countries by increasing access to necessary investment flows and markets and through more effective development cooperation programmes;

41. Encourages a focus on GDP in measuring progress in society to be balanced by an equal concern about the qualitative aspects of growth, as this is a prerequisite for Sustainable Development;

42. Emphasises the need for complementary measures such as sustainable fiscal measures and public procurement and the reduction and progressive elimination of subsidies that are both trade-distorting and environmentally damaging;

43. Calls on the private sector of developing and developed countries to adapt and commit to corporate codes of conduct that publicly outline their contribution to the goal of Sustainable Development;

44. Calls on the Commission to regularly monitor and report on the effectiveness of the Code of Conduct for European Enterprises operating in developing countries, particularly with regard to the implementation of Sustainable Development requirements;

45. Welcomes the Commission's approach towards promoting issues of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) internationally; urges, however, the Commission to add value to the CSR issue by drawing up more binding rules for European companies operating in developing countries, particularly with regard to the core labour standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and environmental protection;

46. Reminds the Commission of the need to base its development programmes on transparency and accountability, as corruption in developing countries often negatively reinforces unsustainable trends, for instance in fields such as illegal logging; and emphasises the need to support the establishment of independent anti-corruption watchdogs in developing countries by allocating sufficient resources to such projects;

47. Calls on the Commission to work with Member States to identify and bring to justice those guilty of importing illegally sourced wood and wood products, and to support ACP Member States in actions to stop the trade and marketing of such goods;

48. Reiterates the importance of Foreign Direct Investment to developing countries and encourages the Commission and the Member States to design their development policies in a manner that improves the current state of the economic institutions and the investment climate in developing countries;

49. Considers that local authorities in developing countries are not always in a position to provide the volumes of financing required to make major investments in the construction and maintenance of infrastructure networks, for example to supply water or provide sanitation, and that consequently only supplementary injections of private capital, through public-private partnerships, will be able to provide the requisite volume of funding;

50. Reiterates its call on the Commission to give strong support to the FLEGT licensing scheme and designed Volunteer Partnership agreements (VPAs); believes that particular importance should be paid to convincing partner countries to sign VPAs and to join the licensing scheme, while avoiding the possibility for partner countries to side — step the scheme by exporting to third countries where no licensing schemes are in place;

51. Emphasises the importance of enhancing the social dialogue with local businesses in developing countries in order to foster cooperation and common responsibilities with a view to achieving sustainable consumption and production and supporting south-south and north-south learning in this regard;

52. Calls on the Commission to put particular emphasis during the negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements on strategies that foster greater diversification of exports from ACP countries and support growth and development models that are environmentally sustainable and socially just;

53. Reaffirms that, for developing countries, access to energy sources constitutes a key priority; in this respect, calls for energy access to be promoted via the EU Energy Initiative and by upgrading the profile of energy efficiency in development programmes;

54. Stresses that, in a context of anarchic urban growth, urban water and sanitation is a key development issue, as good practices in the field of democratic governance locally may be built up around local public services;

55. Calls on developing countries, in order to ensure the sustainable exploitation of their water resources, to decentralise water management to local level so as to involve users and decision-makers in the formulation of water policies at as close a level as possible to citizens' needs;

56. Calls for local authorities in the EU to be encouraged to use part of the revenue from charges to users for the provision of water and sanitation services to carry out decentralised cooperation measures to finance projects to improve access to water in developing countries;

57. Calls on the EU to help to draw up strategies to encourage an economic and agricultural development path compatible with maintaining or restoring a high standard of water quality, from groundwater to the water supplied to the final consumer;

58. Considers it necessary to integrate the concept of Sustainable Development in the research and innovation process;

59. Calls on all parties to establish concrete short-term and long-tem sustainable development objectives and to monitor progress made towards realising these goals;

60. Believes that in the scope of Policy Coherence for Development and with respect to immigration, the Member States will come to a common agreement to face the challenge of immigration; recalls in this respect that special attention should be given to remittances and a possible reversion of brain-drain generating policies into brain-gain processes; emphasises that the EU should not cause a long-term brain drain to developing countries;

61. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments of the Member States and candidate countries.

[1] OJ L 317, 15.12.2000, p. 3.

[2] OJ C 46, 24.2.2006, p. 1.

[3] OJ C 104, 14.4.1999, p. 180.

[4] OJ C 298 E, 8.12.2006, p. 171.

[5] OJ C 293 E, 2.12.2006, p. 316.

[6] OJ C 287 E, 24.11.2006, p. 185.

[7] Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0272.

[8] WWF (2004) EU Aid: Reducing Poverty Through a Sustainable Environment: Why should EU Aid properly address the link between poverty and environment?.

[9] World Bank (2002) A Revised Forest Strategy for the World Bank Group, 31.10.2002.

[10] FAO (2002). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. FAO, Rome, Italy.

[11] OJ L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 41.

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