European Parliament resolution on the role of the European Union in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (2004/2252(INI))
Date: 2005-04-12
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: aid policy, development aid, least-developed country, poverty

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Evaluation

the standards;

32. Welcomes the efforts made by the Commission in internal control allowing it to meet the majority
of
internal control
standard 23 concerning evaluation because of capacity constraints; asks the Commission to report on how
it intends to ensure that evaluation is properly carried out and followed up and to advise as to when it feels
it will be able to meet the standard;

the Commission's inability to meet

is concerned, however, about

Deadlines

Invites the Commission to forward — and the Council to adopt — the following proposal for

33.
modification of the first sentence of Article 119(1) of the Financial Regulation:

‘Before 30 June of year N + 2 the European Parliament, upon a recommendation from the Council
acting by a qualified majority, shall give a discharge to the Commission in respect of the financial
implementation for year N of the EDF resources, which it manages in accordance with Article 1(2).’

P6_TA(2005)0115

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

European Parliament resolution on the role of the European Union in the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (2004/2252(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the United Nations Millennium Declaration of 8 September 2000, which sets out the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as criteria collectively established by the international com-
munity for the elimination of poverty,

— having regard to the successive Human Development Reports drawn up by the United Nations Devel-

opment Programme,

— having regard to the Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) —

Least Developed Countries 2002: Escaping the Poverty Trap,

— having regard to the annual reports by the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) on the imple-

mentation of the Millennium Declaration, the latest of which dates from 27 August 2004,

— having regard to the report by the UN Millennium Project Task Force headed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs

‘Investing in Development: a Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals’,

— having regard to Unicef's annual State of the World's Children reports and the 1989 Convention on the

Rights of the Child,

— having regard to the final declarations and conclusions of international conferences, in particular the
International Conference on Financing for Development (Monterrey, 2002), the World Summit on Sus-
tainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002), the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Devel-
oped Countries (Brussels, 2001), the Fourth World Trade Organisation Ministerial Conference (Doha,
2001), the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) (Cairo, 1994), the UN
General Assembly's 1999 special session to review progress towards meeting the ICPD goals
(‘Cairo + 5’), and the World Education Forum (Dakar, 2000),

— having regard to national reservations expressed by EU Member States in the final declarations and

conclusions of the above-mentioned conferences,

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— having regard to the commitments made by the EU at the Barcelona European Council in March 2002

in advance of the Monterrey Conference,

— having regard to Articles 177-181 of

the Treaty establishing the European Community and Arti-

cles III-316 to 318 and III-321 of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe,

— having regard to the Commission's Report on ‘Millennium Development Goals 2000-2004’ (SEC(2004)

1379),

— having regard to the Declaration of the Council and the Commission of 20 November 2000 on the

European Community's development policy,

— having regard to the Conclusions of the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) of

22-23 November 2004,

— having regard to the Communications from the President of the Commission in agreement with Vice-
President Wallström ‘Strategic objectives 2005 — 2009: Europe 2010: A Partnership for European
Renewal — Prosperity, Solidarity and Security’ and ‘Commission work programme for 2005’,

— having regard to the Commission Communication concerning the proposal for a Council decision on
the adoption of the position of the Community within the ACP-EC Council of Ministers regarding the
settlement of all ACP HIPC LDCs' special loans remaining after full application of HIPC debt alleviation
mechanisms (COM(2001)0210) and its resolution of 25 April 2002 (1) thereon,

— having regard to its resolution of 13 January 2005 on debt relief for developing countries (2),

— having regard to the World Food Summit's pledge in 1996 to reduce the number of hungry people by

half by the year 2015,

— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Development and the opinion of the Committee on

International Trade(A6-0075/2005),

A. whereas the EU provides more than 50 % of development aid globally and considering that in Sept-
ember 2000 the EU Member States and the President of the Commission signed the Millennium Declar-
ation and in December 2001 the UN General Assembly approved the MDGs,

B.

recognising that the MDGs, which underscore efforts to meet poverty eradication objectives, must be
considered as part of a broader agenda promoting sustainable development, justice, equity, governance
and the rule of law,

C. whereas according to the 2002 UNCTAD Report on LDCs, the number of people living in extreme
poverty has more than doubled over the last thirty years, rising from 138 million in the 1960s to
307 million in the 1990s and if current trends persist, the number of people living on less than
USD 1 a day will rise from 307 million to 420 million by 2015,

D. whereas action against poverty requires above all a radical change of policy in both industrialised and
developing countries in order to address the structural causes of poverty, including unfair world trade
rules, unaffordable debt payments by developing countries to international financial institutions, and
unfair distribution of wealth,

E.

recognising that meeting the MDG targets implies a doubling of the current amount of aid and main-
taining it at that level for at least a decade,

(1) OJ C 131 E, 5.6.2003, p. 167.
(2) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0008.

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F.

recognising simultaneous efforts to identify additional innovative sources of funding, while recognising
at the same time that the quality and content of aid is equally important,

G.

regretting that two thirds of developing countries spend more on debt servicing than on basic social
services,

H.

recognising that many heavily indebted countries require 100 % debt relief and should reach 2015
without debt overhang,

I. whereas the 2002 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Development Assistance
Committee (OECD/DAC) Peer Review criticised the Community for the ‘lack of an overall Community
strategy and the fact that the objectives of Community development policy are too numerous, too
vague and not ranked in any way’, and whereas no real efforts have been made in the past to ensure
that Community aid and aid through EU Member States complement each other,

J.

noting that just 10 % of world's health resources go to the needs of 90 % of the world's population and
that 95 % of the 38 million people with AIDS live in developing countries,

K.

acknowledging the importance of prevention, but also emphasising the need to provide antiretroviral
drugs to three million people by the end of 2005,

L. whereas recently, major progress has been made with regard to the most harmful form of the four

human malaria parasites, which will open the way for new treatments,

M. alarmed that higher HIV/AIDS infection rates exist in sub-Saharan Africa where expenditure on health

and education has been drastically reduced,

N. whereas some tropical diseases are treatable but the drugs are either unaffordable, no longer produced

or lacking in quality or effectiveness,

O.

recognising that in sub-Saharan Africa 57 % of adults with HIV are women and deploring the pressures
which exist to undermine progressive policies on sexual and reproductive health rights, and are result-
ing in an increase in unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions,

P. whereas there are important links between environmental sustainability, trade and development policies
and the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, and whereas the livelihoods of the rural poor
depend almost entirely on sound management of the natural resources base — forests, soils, range
lands, marine resources as well as fresh water resources,

Q. noting the recent publication of the alarming Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report, with its con-
clusion that approximately 60 % (15 out of 24) of the ecosystem services examined are being degraded
or used unsustainably, including fresh water, capture fisheries, air and water purification, and the regu-
lation of regional and local climate, natural hazards, and pests, and that the world's poorest people
suffer most from these ecosystem changes,

R.

S.

recognising the potential impact of the Doha Development Round and the need for fair and equitable
rules-based trade systems designed to correct the trading imbalances in global trade, especially where
Africa is concerned,

acknowledging that development cooperation in the past has been built primarily on sector strategies
and whereas a more systems-based approach in addressing the MDGs would be beneficial because of
the clear synergies that exist,

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1. Welcomes the Commission's Report on Millennium Development Goals 2000-2004 and looks for-
ward to the EU synthesis report proposing further measures to ensure that Community aid is fully directed
towards the implementation of the MDGs;

2.
Emphasises that poverty reduction through the achievement of the MDGs and the Millennium Declar-
ation must be recognised unambiguously as the overarching framework for EU development policy, and that
this must be reflected clearly in all relevant policy and legislative proposals; but believes that the MDGs
should not be seen as a technical matter which will be resolved simply by providing more money without
identifying and tackling the underlying causes of poverty;

3.

Regrets that whilst MDGs 1-7 have clear deadlines, this is not the case for MDG 8;

4.
Stresses the link between the MDGs, nationally-owned poverty reduction strategies, macroeconomic
policy, effective public expenditure management and harmonised aid in support of good governance and
good policies;

5.
Is convinced that the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and Country Strategy Papers (CSPs)
could be important tools for achieving the MDGs but thinks that they need to be revised to better support
the MDGs, and calls for the ‘quick wins’ to be enshrined in PRSPs and CSPs to make them part of a
sustainable and structural approach; believes that the process of developing an MDG-based PRSP needs to
be open and consultative, involving all key stakeholders, both national and international;

Believes that national and regional development policies must be democratically set by the populations
6.
themselves and that their respective governments should be accountable to them through democratic insti-
tutions and not by conditionality geared to donors' strategic interests;

7.
Believes that the fight against poverty includes the recognition of the right of a country or a region to
democratically define its own policies, priorities and strategies to enhance sustainable food production and
economic development by mobilising its natural and human resources and local knowhow;

8.
Stresses that all means must be used to attain the MDGs and that this necessitates the broadest
possible partnership of relevant stakeholders, especially with national parliaments and civil society to pro-
vide the innovation, resources and capacity needed;

9.
Takes the view that full recognition must be accorded to the right and duty of every country to
guarantee the food security of its population and to protect itself as and where required for that purpose
from other countries' exports that could undermine it;

10.
Considers that public services need to be consolidated and developed in order to remedy the great
scourges linked to poverty, such as epidemics, illiteracy, drinking-water shortages, and the unavailability of
sewage treatment;

Calls for an integrated approach — as opposed to a sector-based approach — in addressing the

11.
MDGs;

12.
Commends those Member States that have reached or passed 0,7 % GNI, whilst noting the worrying
trend set by some to begin a process of decreasing aid levels, as well as abandoning previous commitments
on timetables;

13.
Stresses that although the EU seems currently on target for its intermediary objective of 0,39 % of
GNI for Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2006, there are large disparities in the performance of its
Member States and therefore calls on those Members States still lagging behind to commit themselves to a
clear timetable and deadlines for reaching the 0,7 % target before 2015;

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14. Welcomes the progress already achieved by many of the 10 new EU Member States in dramatically
increasing levels of ODA and looks forward to a continuation of this trend;

Stresses that the target of 20 % for basic education and health should be included in the budget of
15.
the EU and the European Development Fund, expanding on the existing target of 35 % for basic social
services;

Supports the proposal for regular assessments of progress towards ODA targets to be made at the
16.
Economic and Financial Affairs (Ecofin) and GAERC Councils, whilst calling for Member States to set annual
targets for overall aid and aid to LDCs;

Urges the Commission to examine its own resource allocation to development and to commit itself

17.
to increase significantly its development spending over the course of the next financial perspective;

Calls on the EU to take concrete action against poverty by adopting a coherent policy between its
18.
trade, development cooperation and common agricultural policies to avoid direct or indirect negative
impacts on the economy of developing countries;

Urges the Commission to explore innovative sources of finance and to examine all suggestions which
19.
have been put forward as alternative ways of securing funding for development programmes in addition to
the commitment of giving 0,7 % of GNI to ODA;

Calls for debt relief by phasing out the debts of heavily indebted countries, especially LDCs, for those
20.
countries whose governments respect human rights, the principle of good governance and give priority to
poverty eradication;

Calls for targets for debt relief to be linked not only to debt export ratios but also to MDG-based

21.
needs;

Urges the EU to ensure adequate international funding of currently under funded research on

22.
illnesses that affect citizens of developing countries;

Encourages the Commission and the Member States to strengthen their partnerships with developing

23.
countries in a way which encourages predictability, mutual accountability and reciprocal obligations;

24.
Firmly believes that by tackling together the problem of corruption and illegal financial practices
under the provisions of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, the ACP and EU countries stand to make a
major contribution to the fight against poverty, crime and terrorism, and at the same time to generate
political stability and promote social and economic development;

Stresses the importance of public financial management computerisation, within the wider frame-

25.
work of e-government, in order to better tackle inefficient bureaucracies and avoid lack of transparency;

26.
Urges the Commission to significantly strengthen efforts for greater complementarity between the
development cooperation activities of Member States and the activities of the Commission, based on the
comparative advantages of each donor;

27. Welcomes initiatives such as the EU Donor Atlas, which attempt to coordinate development assist-
ance across the Member States, and encourages the Commission to complete and refine this instrument so
that it can be used to identify areas where progress in harmonisation can be made most quickly;

28.
In this regard, calls for specific commitments and timetables on harmonisation and calls for the
development of indicators and benchmarks intended to monitor the engagement of all partners at country
level;

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29.
Emphasises the opportunities provided by the Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
revolution to address specific poverty-related problems, such as ICT for education, ICT for improved health
care, ICT for good governance, etc.;

30.
Stresses the importance of access to modern energy services for the poor; recognises at the same
time that developing countries do not have to repeat the mistakes of industrialised countries and hence
should be given specific support to invest in energy technologies that are clean and efficient;

Calls on the Commission to increase funding and to set up a global plan for development education

31.
and information centred around the MDGs;

Urges all Member States of the EU to fully implement the Rome Declaration on Harmonization of

32.
25 February 2003 commitments to improve the delivery of aid and in principle to untie aid;

Urges the Commission to ensure that the EU is at the forefront of efforts to ensure that basic
33.
education is free and compulsory and insists that this must be combined with substantial new resources
and more targeted spending of existing resources;

Believes that it is an illusion to achieve the MDG of halving poverty and hunger by 2015, providing
34.
free education for all and improving access to health care, while developing countries spend four times
more on repaying debts than they spend on basic social services;

Insists that, given that the major challenge facing the World Bank Education Fast Track Initiative (FTI)
35.
is the lack of external finance, the Commission should seek to increase funding for education and for the
FTI;

Stresses the importance of paying special attention to the education of girls, since girls who have
36.
been educated go on to have smaller and healthier families and help to increase productivity and reduce
poverty;

Calls for special attention to be focused on orphans and boys and girls suffering social exclusion, who

37.
are disproportionately affected by the consequences of inadequate access to education;

Urges the Commission to explore how an early and positive contribution can be made through the
38.
preparation of a package, including malarial bednets, immunisation through the Global Alliance for Vaccines
and Immunisation (GAVI) and, not least as a measure in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the provision of
condoms; Member States of the EU could collaborate with this venture at country level; stresses that these
actions need to be embedded in a long-term strategy to make them part of a sustainable approach;

39.
Calls on the Commission to take the lead in the fight against malaria, to pool resources and launch
appropriate and comprehensive measures to control and eradicate this pandemic in the long-term, with
particular emphasis on prevention;

Calls, in particular, for public research to be increased and private sector investment to be mobilised

40.
in order to accelerate research on vaccines;

Emphasises that the availability and affordability of basic health care services is an absolute condition

41.
for a successful implementation of all health policies in developing countries;

Supports the Commission's agreement on the need for available and affordable medicines and

42.
emphasises the need for careful scrutiny of the implementation of TRIPS;

Calls for funding to deal with health emergencies in developing countries and for country govern-

43.
ments to make health a priority;

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44.
Points out that access to drinking-water and a balanced diet is vital for public health; maintains,
therefore, that access to drinking-water is essential in order to combat poverty and the diseases caused by
a lack of drinking-water;

45.
Calls on the developing countries to regenerate public services and basic health care systems and
believes that European aid must serve above all to support the domestic efforts of developing countries to
strengthen human, institutional, and infrastructure capacity;

Calls for a substantial increase in the number of health professionals because more are leaving their

46.
profession than are being trained;

Calls for an increased EU contribution to the Global Health Fund, since money so far pledged for
47.
2005 is only 1/4 of the amount needed and calls on the EU and others to work to avoid duplication of
effort and promote national ownership of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria policies;

48.
Urges the EU to continue to lead the way on sexual and reproductive health rights by maintaining
levels of funding for a broad range of sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, the
treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and safe abortion services where legal;

49.
Calls for a target under MDG 5 of universal access to sexual and reproductive health services by
2015, with related indicators, ensuring the same or a faster rate of progress amongst the poor and other
marginalized or vulnerable groups; calls also for related indicators to be appropriately identified under the
remaining seven MDGs;

50.
Stresses the need for a rights based approach to children in all Commission programming and evalu-
ation, and that since children's rights are crosscutting issues, they should be systematically maintained across
all instruments and programming;

Believes that gender specific priorities need to be refocused in Community development policy as

51.
basic rights and part of the governance criteria applied under the Cotonou Agreement and elsewhere;

52. Maintains that women must cease to be marginalised, thus enabling them to play a central role in
drawing up and monitoring poverty reduction strategies based on the MDGs and other vitally important
general reforms, especially as regards regional and local government;

53. Welcomes and supports the Commission's intention to reinvigorate its relationship with Africa
through working closely with the New Partnership for Africa's Development, the African Union and recent
initiatives such as the Commission for Africa;

Reiterates the need identified in Article 178 of the EC Treaty for the Community to consider,

54.
if
necessary through impact studies, whether its development policy objectives would be undermined by
other policy actions;

55.
Calls for a full impact assessment of current trade liberalisation policies on hunger and poverty in
developing countries, and demands that the result of this assessment be used to formulate clear guidelines
for development cooperation;

56.
Insists that adequate attention be paid to the environment at the country level, to contribute to the
achievement of MDG 7, by explicitly including environment and sustainable development in the regional
and CSPs;

57.
Stresses that support for the protection and the regeneration of the life supporting systems, such as
healthy soils, forests and marine resources, as well as the sound management of fresh-water resources, is an
indispensable component of poverty reduction programmes and that such interventions must be given
priority in EU development cooperation activities;

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58.
Fully endorses the conclusions of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report, that continued
destruction of the world's ecosystems will act as a barrier to achieving the MDGs; further agrees that
significant policy and institutional changes are necessary to reverse widespread degradation and urges the
Commission to incorporate the detailed recommendations of the Report in its synthesis report and future
work plans;

59.
Asks the Council to call upon UNEP's Governing Council so as to ensure that the MDG Review
summit in September 2005 launches a comprehensive review of the social and environmental consequences
in order to ensure that these support poverty
of the trade liberalisation policies implemented to date,
eradication as effectively as possible;

Recalls that trade with fair rules, although not an absolute remedy for world poverty, can positively

60.
contribute to the achievement of the MDGs through its impact on economic growth;

61.
Takes note of recent studies by Unctad and other institutions that show that the extensive trade
liberalisation in LDCs has been translated too little into sustained and substantial poverty reduction and
has contributed to a decline in the terms of trade of developing countries, in particular of African countries;

62.
Calls on the Commission to adjust its cooperation and trade policies as far as possible in order to
help governments of developing countries to maintain and develop public services, particularly those guar-
anteeing access for the population as a whole to drinking water, health services, education, transport and
energy;

Reiterates, with regard to discussions on the effects of liberalisation in the water sector, that water-
63.
related services should, as a matter of principle, stay fully under public responsibility and control, leaving it
to the national, regional and local authorities to safeguard this principle, and urges the Commission to stay
in line with this opinion;

reaffirms that, as stated in its resolution of 11 March 2004 (1) on Internal Market Strategy, water is a
64.
shared resource of mankind and that access to water, especially for the poorest communities of the South,
assumes the proportions of a fundamental human right to be promoted and safeguarded;

Regrets that there is no timetable in place for the elimination of agricultural export subsidies; con-

65.
siders, therefore, that it should exert pressure for such a timetable to be drawn up;

Calls on leaders of the EU and other industrialised countries to take concrete action to achieve the
66.
MDGs by eliminating export subsidies which undermine local food production and economic development;

67.
Calls on the Commission to enhance the development content of current WTO negotiations through
a focus on food security and rural employment as among the most effective elements in poverty eradication,
inter alia through the introduction of a ‘Development Box’ in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture to enable
poorer countries better to address food security concerns and preserve rural
livelihoods and through a
complete end to subsidies for EU agricultural exports;

68. Welcomes the Commission's acknowledgement of the need for Special and Differential Treatment,
hearing the concern of developing countries about the impact of liberalisation of trade and reciprocity;

Calls on the Commission to promote urgent WTO reform in order to put sustainability and poverty
69.
eradication at the top of the trade negotiation agenda, and to enhance real special and differential treatment
(S&D);

Asks the Commission to include in the priority actions of the MDG Synthesis Report action by the
70.
EU on the stabilisation of commodity prices,
including the review of international supply management
mechanisms, support for proposals to include commodity prices in the current round of WTO negotiations
and participation in the financing of the Task Force on Commodities proposed by Unctad;

(1) OJ C 102 E, 28.4.2004, p. 857.

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71.
Recalls that at the end of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) negotiations no ACP country
should in its trade relations find itself in a more unfavourable situation after 2007 than under current
arrangements, and that there is no a priori guarantee or commitment that they will sign up to any EPA at
the end of 2007;

72.
Concerning the negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements with ACP partners, calls on the
Commission to ensure that they constitute instruments for ACP development and poverty eradication, inter
alia through the continuation of non-reciprocity in market access with a view to ensuring a fair place for
ACP partners in world trade, a focus on supply side constraints and safeguards for sensitive products and
the strengthening of existing regional integration efforts, and to take the initiative to revise or clarify Arti-
cle 24 of the GATT Agreement;

Urges that full account be taken of the fact that ACP countries are often heavily dependent on
73.
primary commodities, which are particularly vulnerable to price fluctuation and tariff escalation, and
stresses the importance of diversification, the development of processing industries and SMEs in those coun-
tries;

74.
Calls upon the Commission to support, in a transitional period, the principle of commercial non-
reciprocity which must govern relations between the industrialised and developing countries, and to develop
flexibility towards ACP countries during the EPA negotiations in view of their level of development, of the
relatively small size of their economies and of their financial, development and trade needs, and to ensure
that, in reality, EPAs become instruments for sustainable development in the ACP countries;

75.
Calls upon the Commission to draw up valid EPA alternatives, such as extending the Everything-But-
Arms initiative to all non-LDC countries or improving the EU's GSP+ proposal, for those ACP countries that
may express an unwillingness to enter into an EPA;

76.
Stresses the importance of capacity building for trade and the need for additional resources from the
EU to enhance the ACP countries' ability to identify needs and strategies, to negotiate and to support
regional integration and assist this process, and in particular for diversification and to support regional
integration and prepare for liberalisation by enhancing production, supply and trading capacity and offset-
ting adjustment costs as well as to increase their ability to attract investment;

Stresses that capacity building for local markets and for trade is at least as important as market access
77.
and that funding needs to be made available for this and for diversification and support, in particular for
bananas, rice and sugar;

Stresses that the Council should take early measures to implement the WTO Decision of 30 August
78.
2003 on the implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public
Health and calls on the Commission to urge the Member States to implement fully the new regulation as
soon as possible;

Stresses that the Council should speed up the decision-making process with regard to the reform of

79.
EU trade policies on sensitive products;

80.
Calls on the Commission to increase its trade-related assistance and to support capacity building,
which is essential if the poorest countries are to be able to tackle the increased competition resulting from
market liberalisation;

Calls for a revision of the statutes and the mandate of the European Investment Bank, which would

81.
allow for a specialised department operating on the basis of a genuine development mandate;

Believes that the MDGs will never be met without consistent policies benefiting women, children, the

82.
elderly and the disabled;

83.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments
and parliaments of the Member States and the accession countries, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the
United Nations and the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD.