Pierre Schapira (PSE). – (FR) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased with this resolution on the European neighbourhood policy. It comprehensively covers all the priorities set by Parliament for this policy: human rights, democracy, immigration, the environment and free trade.

However, one vital subject is completely missing: development cooperation. Let me remind you that, of the 17 countries covered by the neighbourhood policy, 12 are developing countries, and a third of those are regarded as low-income countries. The current reform of the external action instruments means that these 12 developing countries will not be covered by the future cooperation and development instrument. As a result, if the neighbourhood policy does not include a development policy, these 12 countries will no longer get any development assistance from us.

I find it regrettable, however, that a text with as general and broad a political focus as this one makes no reference to cooperation. We cannot reasonably talk about increasing the prosperity of a region without, at the same time, making a commitment to eradicating poverty. Are the basic needs of the people of Azerbaijan, Moldova or Palestine currently being met? How can these countries fight dictatorship and be competitive in the market economy when some of their people do not even have access to drinking water, social services, healthcare and basic education? How do we expect to achieve the Millennium Development Goals if we cannot even combat poverty on our own doorstep?

As I see it, adopting a resolution on the neighbourhood policy that chooses to overlook the objective of eradicating poverty would be a serious error of judgment for which, unfortunately, we would have to bear responsibility in the future.