WRITTEN QUESTION E-2876/00 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council. The EU and world poverty.
Date: 2000-09-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: common foreign and security policy, poverty

22.5.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 151 E/21

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(26 October 2000)

No Cohesion Fund aid has been given, or any applied for, for construction of new runways or a new
terminal building at the existing Madrid airport.

The Commission cannot take a decision on an application for aid before it is actually made by the national
authorities.

(2001/C 151 E/025)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2876/00

by Camilo Nogueira RomÆn (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(13 September 2000)

Subject: The EU and world poverty

In July 2000 the so-called (cid:145)G8(cid:146) met in Japan, with the participation of the presidents or prime ministers of
the EU(cid:146)s wealthiest Member States and the President of the Commission. At this summit a resolution was
passed calling for accelerated debt relief for the poorest countries, to the sum of € 111 billion, and for the
more effective targeting of public aid to those countries. The governments present also undertook to
mobilise investment to combat fatal infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the least
developed countries. The representatives of the eight governments also recognised that the economic
prosperity of the richest countries over recent decades has been accompanied by poverty and injustice in
many parts of the world. This is confirmed by the statistics and analyses of the World Bank, which show
that some one billion people in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia monopolise 80 % of the
world(cid:146)s annual
the world(cid:146)s population have only 6 %. This resolution was
accompanied by solemn declarations to similar effect by the presidents of the EU Member States present,
including the French President Jacques Chirac, who currently presides the European Council.

income, while 57 % of

In view of the above, what concrete measures does the EU intend to take to act on these agreements and
declarations of intent and ensure that they do not remain a dead letter, as is, unfortunately, generally the
case?

Reply

(22 December 2000)

The struggle to combat poverty is at the heart of the EU(cid:146)s considerable efforts in development cooperation.
The particular preoccupations of the international community highlighted by the Honourable Member are
fully shared by the EU. Through the various means open to it, the Council is taking action to ensure that
these concerns are translated into activities with concrete impact, addressing long-term structural issues
which will determine future prosperity, while also alleviating in the short term the hardship of the lives of
many people in the developing world.

At its meeting on 10 November 2000, having examined a Communication from the Commission on the
European Community(cid:146)s Development Policy, the Council agreed on a joint statement with the Commission
setting out the parameters for a new Community development cooperation policy. It also adopted a
Resolution on communicable diseases and poverty in which it confirms the relevance of the broad areas
identified,
i.e. achieving optimum impact for health and development policies, reducing the cost of
provision of care and stepping up research into new pharmaceutical products and the social aspects of
these communicable diseases. Key elements of the new policy must therefore include a multidimensional
approach, an emphasis upon partnership, ownership and participation,
increased complementarity
between Community and Member States(cid:146) development policies, and improved management.

C 151 E/22

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

22.5.2001

Already, the long-established relationship between the EU and the ACP countries has just entered a new
phase with the signature in June of the Cotonou Agreement, which re-asserts the primary aim of
eradicating poverty, through a partnership which ensures a comprehensive and integrated approach to
the intricate network of factors now recognised as essential components for sustainable development. The
particular points mentioned by the Honourable Member (cid:129) support for debt relief, careful targeting of
development strategies to ensure maximum impact, the fight against HIV/AIDS and the improvement of
health systems in general (cid:129) are all reflected in specific provisions of the Cotonou text. Crucially, practical
work in these fields will be guided by the overall approach of the Agreement, which recognises inequities
in the distribution of world wealth and seeks to operate a true partnership between the cooperating
countries, based on democratic principles and ownership by ACP states of the development strategies for
their countries.

In another initiative earlier this year, the Plan of Action which emerged from the Africa-Europe Summit
held in Cairo in April strongly reiterated the commitment to poverty reduction and sustainable develop-
ment. Again, the points raised by the Honourable Member are all included in the broad range of topics
covered by the Plan of Action. The assembled States welcomed debt relief initiatives and, in particular, the
EU commitment to contribute 1 billion euros to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and
the link of this contribution to measures on poverty reduction. The bi-regional group of Senior Officials
charged with promoting implementation of the Action Plan is to prepare a report for Ministers on the
external debt of African countries. The Summit also provided for cooperation on the eradication of
endemic diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, polio and river blindness and on a range of responses to
the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

In this latter regard, the Council has asked the Commission to draw up a communication on potential
additional EU efforts to confront major poverty diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis and to
improve the health of people in developing countries.

The Honourable Member is assured that the Council
is fully cognisant of the key concerns of the
international community, including poverty focus, AIDS, debt relief and is committed to ensuring that
these issues are tackled in EU internal policies and in EU action on the broader international front.

(2001/C 151 E/026)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2911/00

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Council

(20 September 2000)

Subject: Austria/Sanctions

In its answers to various parliamentary questions from the undersigned Member on the subject of
(cid:145)Sanctions against Austria(cid:146), the Council repeatedly had recourse to phrases such as (cid:145)not yet examined(cid:146),
(cid:145)has no opinion(cid:146) or (cid:145)not yet dealt with(cid:146). How does the Council justify its action, if it does not deal with (cid:129)
or appears to not deal with (cid:129) a very topical issue, such as the sanctions of the 14 against Austria?

However, as the official version, the publication and the statement of the 14 by the Portuguese Presidency
show, it is evident that the Council must have dealt with the subject.

In addition, according to media reports, the question of sanctions against Austria has been discussed at
ministerial level at various working lunches, for example, at the General Affairs Council on 14 February, in
Lisbon on 23 March, in the Azores on 5 May and at the Feira European Council on 19 June 2000.

Without a proper discussion on this topic (cid:129) as shown by the Council(cid:146)s unsatisfactory answer (cid:129) it is clear
that the action of the Portuguese Council Presidency both presumes and exceeds authority.

Will sanctions consequently be imposed against Portugal? Is an inquiry actually being carried out? Precisely
how long will it be before there is any new information on this matter?