EUR 2 billion for corrupt African regimes
26.9.2014
Question for written answer E-007180-14
to the Commission
Rule 130
Olaf Stuger (NI) , Hans Jansen (NI)
In one of his final acts as Commission President, José Manuel Barroso signed an agreement in New York[1] with five African countries for the purpose of making sustainable energy sources more accessible there, in rural areas and elsewhere. The signatories to the agreement were Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Togo and Rwanda. In fact, the EU intends to provide over EUR 3.3 billion in grants to promote these technologies worldwide between 2014 and 2020. Two-thirds of the funding, around EUR 2 billion, has been earmarked for African countries.
However, all the above have performed very badly on the ‘Corruption Perceptions Index’ published by Transparency International[2], with Cape Verde achieving the ‘best’ score of 58, compared with 27 for Côte d'Ivoire, 38 for Liberia, 29 for Togo and a deplorable 53 for Rwanda.
1. Does the Commission consider it responsible to earmark EUR 2 billion for countries in which corruption is manifestly rife?
2. How will the Commission ensure that the funding in question is allocated in a transparent and responsible manner?
3. What sanctions will be imposed on these countries for non-compliance with Commission guidelines?