WRITTEN QUESTION P-1373/02 by Heidi Hautala (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. EU commitment to devote 0,39 % of GNI to Official Development Aid by 2006 and the applicant countries.
Date: 2002-05-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, EU aid, accession to the European Union, aid policy, budget policy, development aid

15.1.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 11 E/1

I

(Information)

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN QUESTIONS WITH ANSWER

(2004/C 11 E/001)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1373/02

by Heidi Hautala (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(6 May 2002)

Subject: EU commitment to devote 0,39 % of GNI to Official Development Aid by 2006 and the applicant

countries

During the Monterrey UN Conference on Financing for Development, the Spanish Presidency confirmed,
on behalf of the 15 Member States, that the EU had committed itself in Barcelona to devote the EU
average of 0,39 % of GNI to its Official Development Aid by 2006. The Presidency also confirmed that this
target ‘represents an additional USD 7 billion by 2006 which, in a low-growth scenario, will make available
at least some USD 20 billion more over the period 2000-2006’.

Does the Commission agree that this commitment to 0,39 % ODA/GNI represents a binding target? Does
this target have to be considered as part of the ‘acquis communautaire’ in the sense that the applicant
countries will eventually also have to follow suit?

How, and within what time frame, does the Commission intend to ensure that the commitment is formally
incorporated into the acquis so that this issue may be addressed in the outstanding negotiations with the
applicant countries?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(12 June 2002)

The Member States decided in Council conclusions adopted on 15 March 2002 to increase their Official
Development Assistance (ODA), so as to reach the collective Community average of 0,39 % ODA/GNI by
2006. In view of this objective, all Member States are committed to strive to reach, within their respective
budget allocation processes, at least 0,33 % ODA/GNI by 2006. At the same time, Member States that have
already reached the United Nations agreed target of 0,7 % ODA/GNI will renew their efforts to remain
above the target.

Council conclusions are not legally binding acts, but both the specific character of it and the kind of
decision making process that lead to the Barcelona decision give it a strong political weight. This is not,
however, something that legally and formally has to be negotiated before accession but will be part of the
ongoing process afterwards.

the
More generally, and referring to the 0,7 % target, Article 177(3) of
the EC Treaty states that
Community and the Member States ‘shall comply with the commitments and take account of
the
objectives they have approved in the context of the United Nations and other competent international
organisations’. Candidate countries must comply with this EC Treaty provision in the same way as current
Member States, once they become members of the Union. The Commission therefore considers that a
discussion will have to take place on how best the new Member States can contribute to the Union efforts
in this field.