WRITTEN QUESTION E-4053/98

by Nelly Maes (V) to the Commission

(13 January 1999)

Subject: Misuse of humanitarian aid to countries at war

On 18 September 1998, the President of the Commission said that the European Union should review its aid to countries at war and refuse to provide financial assistance if it was used for war purposes. Afterwards, the Commission is said to have instituted an internal inquiry to identify any diversion of European aid funds and determine what measures can be taken against those responsible.

1. What are the findings of this inquiry?

2. What measures has the Commission taken since September 1998 to review the rules on providing financial assistance to countries at war? How can countries be punished if they are found to have used European aid funds for war purposes?

Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission

(24 March 1999)

The Commission's statement was an expression of its serious concern about the widening conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with some dozen countries directly or indirectly involved in a regional war.

The aim is not merely to weigh the risk of aid being diverted, nor is this purely an internal inquiry. The Commission wishes to review the situation of countries involved in armed conflict given the risk of serious destabilisation, humanitarian catastrophe and the destruction of years of effort spent on an economic, social and human development policy framed jointly by the Commission and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States. This is a legitimate question and is bound to be taken up by public opinion in Europe; why indeed should we continue providing needed assistance to poor countries if they are meanwhile using their own resources to settle political and territorial disputes by military means?

These issues are already being discussed in the Member States and the debate will surely spread to the international community as a whole. In any case the Commission has already put measures in hand. Clauses have been inserted in each new agreement on budgetary aid for an ACP country involved in armed conflict stipulating payment in tranches, with stringent checks on the way previous funds have been used before a new instalment is released. Financing agreements relating to budgetary aid for a country involved in armed conflict are accompanied by a letter from the Commission to the Head of State explaining these measures, expressing the Commission's concern and urging the government to seek a negotiated settlement without delay.

Humanitarian aid, however, involves neither a preliminary signed accord nor a financing agreement with the recipient country. Operations are carried out by our partners, i.e. non-governmental organisations or UN agencies, and belligerents, who may be engaged in ethnic cleansing or other systematic human rights violations as well as military operations, often deliberately block access to victims by humanitarian organisations in areas where there is fighting. In 1998, for instance, the Commission, while continuing to denounce human rights violations and breaches of humanitarian law, encountered increasing difficulty in safeguarding humanitarian operations in Sudan, Central Africa and Afghanistan.