WRITTEN QUESTION E-3357/01 by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Afghanistan and humanitarian aid from the European Union.
Date: 2001-12-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Afghanistan, ECHO, aid to agriculture, aid to refugees, alternative agricultural production, food aid, humanitarian aid, land use, narcotic

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Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.11.2002

and for urban areas. For Objective 2, the figures are somewhat higher, namely 6,8 % for business parks and
incubators and 7 % for refurbishing and rehabilitation of industrial and military sites and for urban areas.
The figures are illustrative only since they cover activities other than the development of industrial sites.

(1) OJ L 213, 13.8.1999.

(2002/C 277 E/002)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3357/01

by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 December 2001)

Subject: Afghanistan and humanitarian aid from the European Union

As part of its reply to my question (H-0856/01 (1)) regarding the dissuasion of Afghan farmers from
producing and selling opium, the Council refers me to the Commission. I would like information on the
priorities set by the Commission (ECHO) for the use of immediate humanitarian aid to tackle urgent needs
(€ 25 million) and, secondly, for the long-term utilisation of the total amount of € 320 million which has
already been allocated to the country.

Within the framework of this humanitarian aid and the development and reconstruction plan for the
country, does the Commission intend to promote a policy of dissuading farmers from reverting to growing
opium and producers from selling the stocks that they still have? If so, how does it intend to achieve this?

(1) Written answer of 14.11.2001.

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(5 March 2002)

After the United States, the Commission has, through the Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), been the main
source of humanitarian aid for Afghanistan, providing € 150 million since 1993. When that sum is added
to food aid and assistance for Afghan refugees from other Commission departments,
the
Directorate-General for Development (DG DEV), the EuropeAid Cooperation Office (AIDCO) and the
Directorate-General for External Relations (DG RELEX), the EU has allocated over € 430 million for the
people of Afghanistan since 1991.

to wit

In 2001 ECHO mobilised € 54,7 million. Food aid (€ 28 million), aid for displaced persons in neighbouring
countries (€ 22,5 million) and aid for mine-clearance (about € 10 million) took Commission-managed aid
for the Afghan people in 2001 to € 116 million. If the Member States’ aid is added to this figure, EU aid in
2001 totalled more than € 320 million.

Humanitarian aid allocated to Afghanistan by the Commission (through ECHO) prior to 11 September
2001 amounted to € 23,4 million, most of it targeted on two vulnerable groups:

B People displaced by drought or fighting received help in the form of water-supply and sanitation

programmes, the distribution of basic necessities and medical feeding programmes.

B Drought-hit communities received food.

Projects were slowed down by the departure of expatriate staff in the wake of the events of 11 September
2001. However, with the exception of mine-clearance projects, activities continued thanks to the skills and
commitment of Afghan local staff.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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The additional € 25 million package from the emergency reserve of the EU budget, which the budgetary
authority approved on 15 October 2001, has been used to adapt to the changing conditions in the field in
terms of needs, access and security.

Following the first strikes by coalition forces an initial € 1,5 million was granted to help the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reinforce its medical facilities throughout the country.

A second package, this time of € 15 million, has been used to continue aid programmes to a million
displaced persons and to supply food to communities that have stayed put.

A third grant, this time of € 8,5 million, has enabled ECHO to adjust to new needs arising from recent
developments in the military situation, which have seen the Taliban withdraw from most parts of the
country: mine-clearance and training in the detection of new ordnance (cluster bombs) dropped by
coalition forces, assistance to help people displaced by the fighting return to their homes,
the
establishment of machinery to assist the heavily bombed south of the country.

As for other instruments, the Commission, aware of the problems caused to farmers by the Taliban ban on
poppy growing (it is reckoned that about 400 000 people were displaced for this reason), has decided, in
the course of programming operations under Article B7-302 (1), to finance alternative crops and sources of
income in the provinces most affected by the ban.

Plans have been amended since the events of 11 September 2001 to take account of (a) the possible
revival of poppy growing and (b) the aid pledged by the international community for reconstruction.
Tackling illegal poppy growing and drug use will be a key cross-sectoral issue. It will definitely be covered
by the € 187 million package for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the country (not counting
humanitarian assistance), which the Commission is planning to mobilise in 2002, and by all future
reconstruction efforts.

There is indeed a real possibility that a lack of central control and security problems in most of the
country might result in the resumption of poppy growing. EU aid and support for the government will
have to find alternative solutions through programmes focused on developing alternative crops and other
sources of income for farmers.

International programmes could conceivably include a clause making aid conditional on a written
undertaking from the regional authorities and local communities benefiting from development operations
to reduce or give up poppy growing in their region.

In the matter of stocks, a distinction should be drawn between stocks of seeds and stocks of drugs.

To address the issue of seed stocks and poppy growing, the Commission is planning to cofinance a crop
monitoring programme.

As for drug stocks, two things should be borne in mind: these stocks now mostly consist of heroin rather
than opium and, though they have yet to be quantified or located, are probably in the hands of criminal
gangs or organisations. This therefore calls for a quite different response to that for poppy growers. The
aim here must be not only to locate and destroy stocks, which may very well have left Afghan territory,
but to strengthen capacities to fight traffickers at regional level.

The Commission has therefore granted € 400 000 for a programme to strengthen the capacities of
Tajikistan’s national drugs agency and is continuing its activities along the heroin trail with new projects in
Central Asia, Iran and the Caucasus.

(1) B7-302 B ‘Aid to uprooted people in Asian countries’. About € 90 million has been earmarked for activities in

Afghanistan over the period 2001-2004.