EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 212/8

Wednesday 6 May 2009

Non-State actors and local authorities in development

P6_TA(2009)0358

European Parliament resolution of 6 May 2009 on the draft Commission decision establishing the 2009 Annual Action Programme for Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development (Part II: Targeted Projects)

2010/C 212 E/04

The European Parliament,

having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation (1), and in particular Article 14(1)(b) thereof,

having regard to the draft Commission decision establishing the 2009 Annual Action Programme for Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development (Part II: Targeted Projects) (CMTD(2009)0387 – D004766/01),

having regard to the opinion delivered on 15 April 2009 by the committee referred to in Article 35(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 (‘the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) management committee’),

having regard to the ‘General Evaluation of Actions to Raise Public Awareness of Development Issues in Europe / Development Education’ (EC Reference No 2007/146962. Final Report),

having regard to its resolution of 13 March 2008 on the challenge of EU development cooperation policy for the new Member States (2),

having regard to Article 8 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (3),

having regard to Rule 81 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas, on 15 April 2009, the DCI management committee voted by written procedure in favour of the draft 2009 Annual Action Programme for Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development (Part II: Targeted Projects) (CMTD(2009)0387 – D004766/01),

B. whereas, pursuant to Article 7(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC and Article 1 of the Agreement of 3 June 2008 between the European Parliament and the Commission on procedures for implementing Council Decision 1999/468/EC, Parliament received the draft implementing measures submitted to the DCI management committee and the results of the voting,

C. whereas Article 14(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 stipulates that one of the objectives of the thematic programme on non-State actors and local authorities in development is to ‘increase the level of awareness of the European citizen regarding development issues and mobilise active public support in the Community and acceding countries for poverty reduction and sustainable development strategies in partner countries’,

D. whereas concerns were raised by 11 Member States in a ‘Joint Statement of Member States on DCI Non-State Actors and Local Authorities’, sent to the Commission on 19 March 2009, about the Commission’s intention to stop the direct financing (‘targeted projects’ procedure) of the TRIALOG and DEEEP (4) projects, which has been ongoing since 1998 and 2003 respectively, and instead oblige them to participate in a ‘call for proposals’,

E. whereas the ‘Joint Statement’ of the 11 Member States, including 9 ‘new’ Member States, warns that the timing of the Commission’s plan to discontinue direct support for TRIALOG and DEEEP is ‘most inconvenient’, ‘taking into account the current financial situation in many of the “new” Member States and the effects that it has on the NGOs’ capability to function and to develop’, and expressing concern that ‘a gap in financing may occur which will harm these projects by causing the loss of qualified staff as well as know-how and already established networks’,

F. whereas similar concerns were raised by the Chairman of the Committee on Development in a letter of 19 March 2009, pointing out that ‘information and capacity building in the field of development cooperation in the new Member States, and development education for the European public have been constant priorities for the committee’, and requesting the Commission to provide Parliament ‘with the objective and transparent criteria on which it decides which activities and projects qualify for direct financing’, and further requesting that ‘the implementation of this proposed measure be delayed by at least one year in order to avoid possible funding gaps and putting at risk the very survival of these very useful projects’,

G. whereas the above-mentioned ‘General Evaluation of Actions to Raise Public Awareness of Development Issues in Europe / Development Education’ concludes that ‘the strategic use of targeted projects has helped to achieve the objectives of the “Co-financing with European Development NGOs” programme’ and that ‘DEEEP has been an important coordination mechanism for increasing dialogue, promoting exchanges of best practice and building networks and partnerships at EU level and between national platforms and the EU’, and further that ‘the contribution of TRIALOG in improving dialogue and building capacity in its work with new Member States and accession states has been effective’,

H. whereas the TRIALOG programme contributes to meeting the need, highlighted in Parliament’s resolution of 13 March 2008 on the challenge of EU development cooperation policy for the new Member States, for an overall communication and education strategy to remedy the lack of public recognition of development cooperation priorities in the new Member States, and the DEEEP programme responds to its call for increased development education and awareness raising in European education mentioned in the same resolution,

I. whereas, under the above-mentioned 2009 Annual Action Programme, the Commission also proposes to allocate a direct grant for a project on ‘Strengthening Cuban Managerial Capabilities’, to be implemented by the European Foundation of Management Development; whereas, under the DCI Thematic Programme for Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development, the targeted project procedure has never previously been used for activities in partner countries,

J. whereas the Commission subsequently released an ‘Explanatory note for the DCI NSA-LA committee’ (5), in which it clarifies the selection criteria for targeted actions, explaining that these are based on Article 168 of the Implementing rules of the Financial Regulation (6), and that grants may, in particular, be awarded ‘to bodies with a de jure or de facto monopoly’ and ‘for actions with specific characteristics that require a particular type of body on account of its technical competence, its high degree of specialisation or its administrative power’,

1. Opposes the adoption of the draft Commission decision establishing the 2009 Annual Action Programme for Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development (Part II: Targeted Projects) (CMTD(2009)0387 – D004766/01) in its current form;

2. Requests the Commission to clarify the criteria for determining the existence of a ‘de jure or de facto monopoly’ situation, given that, in their ‘Joint Statement’, the 11 Member States mention that, from the perspective of the ‘new’ Member States, a ‘de facto monopoly’ situation still exists with respect to the Europe-wide activities carried out by Trialog and DEEEP;

3. Insists on open, transparent and horizontal application of the criteria for awarding direct grants for targeted projects in order to ensure a level playing field for all; insists, therefore, that the same criteria be applied for Trialog, DEEEP and the project on ‘Strengthening Cuban Managerial Capabilities’;

4. Insists that uninterrupted funding be assured, through a strategic, Europe-wide programme, for the valuable activities of promoting exchanges of best practice, and building networks and partnerships at EU level and between national platforms and the EU, and for improving dialogue and building capacity in the work with ‘new’ Member States and accession states;

5. Invites the Commission to engage in a dialogue with Parliament in the context of its forthcoming review (7) of the system of calls for proposals for the Thematic Programmes; considers it to be inappropriate to anticipate any recommendations for modifications or improvements of the system that may result from the review; calls, therefore, for existing arrangements on directly funded actions to be left unchanged for a 12-month period, and for any future changes to reflect the outcome of the review process and to ensure long-term, predictable and sustainable development cooperation activities;

6. Calls on the Commission to adapt its draft decision establishing the 2009 Annual Action Programme for Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development (Part II: Targeted Projects) (CMTD(2009)0387 – D004766/01) in order to include EU-wide projects for raising awareness of development issues in the enlarged EU and for development education exchange in the EU;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

(1) OJ L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 41.

(2) Texts adopted, P6_TA(2008)0097.

(3) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

(4) DEEEP: ‘Development Education Exchange in Europe’ - http://www.deeep.org/

TRIALOG: ‘Development NGOs in the enlarged EU’ - http://www.trialog.or.at/start.asp?ID=96

(5) AIDCO/F1/NC D(2009) of 6.4.2009 (D004766-01-EN-02).

(6) Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 1).

(7) The ‘Palermo II process’.