European Parliament resolution on debt relief for developing countries
Date: 2005-01-13
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: debt reduction, developing countries, development policy, economic relations, poverty

6.10.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 247 E/153

Thursday 13 January 2005

— the need to address the sources of terrorism through, for example, coordination in the area of
development assistance and support for emerging democratic processes on the basis of full respect
for human rights and international law; calls on both partners to actively engage in a reform of the
UN, and in particular its Security Council, including its composition, in order to make it more
effective and accountable and increase its capacity to implement its decisions;

— the need for an effective response — on the shared basis of the Millennium Development Goals —
to new global challenges which cut across national boundaries, notably poverty reduction, com-
municable diseases and degradation of the environment, in particular by promoting dialogues on
climate protection and transport emissions; believes, in this regard, that the tsunami disaster pro-
vides the opportunity for joint, concerted assistance and relief action for the countries affected in
support of the UN, action which must be followed by a long-term programme of rehabilitation and
reconstruction aimed at the sustainable development of the region;

(c)

a new impetus for the strengthening of the economic partnership, by focusing on specific ideas to
further transatlantic economic integration to the fullest, working towards a comprehensive Transatlantic
Aviation Agreement and accelerating the Financial Market Regulatory Dialogue to promote a vibrant
and open transatlantic capital market;

6.
Considers that the above-mentioned initiatives should lead, by December 2005, to agreement between
the transatlantic partners to update the 1995 New Transatlantic Agenda, replacing it with a ‘Transatlantic
Partnership Agreement’, to be implemented from 2007;

7.
Considers that the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue should be fully activated, that an early warning
system should immediately be put in place between the two sides, and that the existing interparliamentary
exchange should be gradually transformed into a de facto ‘Transatlantic Assembly’;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments of

8.
the Member States and the President and Congress of the United States of America.

P6_TA(2005)0008

Debt relief for developing countries

European Parliament resolution on debt relief for developing countries

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the meeting of 17 to 21 November 2004 of the ‘Paris Club’, a group of 19 creditor

nations, including 12 Member States,

— having regard to its previous resolutions of 25 April 2002 on HIPC debt alleviation (1) and 18 May

2000 on the external debt of poor countries (2),

— having regard to the Millennium Development Goals signed up to by all members of the UN in 2000,

— having regard to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiative adopted in October
2001 in Abuja (Nigeria) and subsequently recognised by the African Union as forming part of its socio-
economic development programme,

— having regard to the action plan adopted by the G8 group of industrialised countries in Kananaskis on

27 June 2002 and the conclusions reached by the G8 Presidency in Evian on 3 June 2003,

(1) OJ C 131 E, 5.6.2003, p. 167.
(2) OJ C 59, 23.2.2001, p. 239.

C 247 E/154

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.10.2005

Thursday 13 January 2005

— having regard to Resolution 2001/27 of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on the
effects of structural adjustment policies and foreign debt on the full enjoyment of human rights, par-
ticularly economic, social and cultural rights,

— having regard to the Jubilee 2000 petition, signed by 24 million people, calling for the debt of devel-

oping countries to be cancelled,

— having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the majority of Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) are located in sub-Saharan Africa,

B.

having regard to Africa's debt burden, estimated at about USD 230 billion, and whereas, according to
estimates, low-income African countries pay out about USD 39 billion per year to service their debt,

C. whereas cancellation of debt would release funds for other purposes, with the freed-up money forming

part of the government budget and therefore becoming available to alleviate poverty directly,

D. whereas debt relief is one of the targets of Millennium Development Goal 8, which aims specifically to
deal comprehensively with developing countries' debt problems through national and international
measures to make debt sustainable in the long term,

E. whereas debt relief alone is not a panacea, and does not, in itself, create resources, reduce poverty or
promote development; whereas the future of developing countries depends primarily upon good gov-
ernance and investment in their own people,

F. whereas in 1996 the World Bank, the IMF, the G7 and the Paris Club took the initiative to relieve the

debts of HIPCs,

G. whereas according to the 2002 Unctad report, and after two decades of structural adjustment pro-

grammes, poverty is continuing to increase,

H. whereas the Paris Club agreed on 21 November 2004 to cut Iraq's public debt by 80 % in order to aid
reconstruction of the country, and whereas the debt will be reduced in three stages — 30 % immedi-
ately, another 30 % in 2005 and 20 % in 2008,

I. whereas the tragic tsunami in Asia have prompted several calls for affected nations to have their debt

suspended in order to help the reconstruction and rehabilitation process,

1.
Notes the cutting of Iraq's debt by 80 %; stresses, however, that all creditors, and especially inter-
national institutions and national governments, must agree to phase out the debt of the developing world,
giving least developed countries (LDCs) priority;

2.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to take the lead, in multilateral and bilateral fora, in
phasing out the external debt of developing countries; also asks that they actively pursue the objective of
giving 0,7 % of GDP as Overseas Development Assistance in order to attain the Millennium Development
Goals;

3. Welcomes the calls to suspend the debt of the countries affected by the tsunami; calls, however, for
debt relief for other poor countries, as international solidarity should not depend on tragic events;

Stresses that debt relief should prioritise LDCs and only be undertaken on the condition that money

4.
gained by governments from such relief be channelled towards helping the poorest in their communities;

6.10.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 247 E/155

Thursday 13 January 2005

5.
Considers that the public-debt relief process should be speeded up and extended in countries whose
governments respect human rights and the principles of good governance and give priority to poverty
eradication;

Stresses that previous initiatives, including the enhanced HIPC initiative, are still inadequate in the
6.
current context of economic globalisation, and emphasises that any such initiatives must be seen as a step
towards the phasing out of all debts;

Highlights the need, in this context, to adapt the current HIPC initiative to meet the requirements of
7.
eligible countries which have not yet reached the decision point due to extreme political instability, and to
provide more flexibility in other respects as well, such as the duration of the ‘track record period’, the
content of both ‘track record’ and interim poverty reduction strategy papers, and the allocation of debt relief
during the interim period;

8. Welcomes, in this context, the postponement of the deadline imposed by the HIPC initiative's sunset
clause to the end of 2006, which provides an opportunity for some eligible post-conflict countries to build
the necessary track record to enter the initiative; calls for additional debt relief focused on reconciliation and
infrastructure rehabilitation for these countries, in order to reduce the likelihood of further conflicts;

9.
Considers that any additional funds obtained by governments through debt relief should be allocated
to social projects by means of plans agreed with donors and civil society, so as to increase social expendi-
ture in areas such as basic education, primary health care and HIV/AIDS;

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure — through effective coordination within
10.
the G8 group, the World Bank and the IMF — that no country genuinely committed to poverty reduction,
good governance and economic reform is denied the chance to achieve the Millennium Development Goals
through lack of finance;

11.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the ACP-EU Council, the African
Union, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the governments and
parliaments of the Member States.

P6_TA(2005)0009

Results of Ukraine elections

European Parliament resolution on the results of the Ukraine elections

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its resolution of 20 November 2003 (1) on ‘Wider Europe — Neighbourhood: A New

Framework for Relations with our Eastern and Southern Neighbours’,

— having regard to its resolutions on the previous rounds of the presidential elections in Ukraine adopted

on 28 October 2004 (2) and 2 December 2004 (3),

— having regard to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and

their Member States, and Ukraine (4), which entered into force on 1 March 1998,

— having regard to European Council Common Strategy 1999/877/CFSP on Ukraine (5), adopted by the

European Council in Helsinki on 11 December 1999,

— having regard to the Final Statement and Recommendations of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Coop-

eration Committee of 16/17 February 2004,

(1) OJ C 87 E, 7.4.2004, p. 506.
(2) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2004)0046.
(3) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2004)0074.
(4) OJ L 49, 19.2.1998, p. 3.
(5) OJ L 331, 23.12.1999, p. 1. Common Strategy as amended by Common Strategy 2003/897/CFSP of the European

Council of 12 December 2003 (OJ L 333, 20.12.2003, p. 96).