Parliament calls for better use of the EU development aid 

Notas de prensa 
 
 

Compartir esta página: 

  • EU development aid and public investments should promote joint priorities and policy objectives 
  • To hit UN 2030 Agenda, maximise the efficiency of every euro invested in development cooperation 

Parliament calls for better coordination of development aid to help partner countries hit the Sustainable Development Goals and realise the UN 2030 Agenda.

The report on improving development effectiveness and efficiency of aid” was adopted with 331 in favour, 294 against and 72 abstentions.

The adopted text proposes that the Commission to bring forward legislation to coordinate all EU aid programmes and those of EU member states and to publish a biannual Aid Effectiveness Progress Report covering joint planning, implementation and results by EU institutions, EU member states, as well development projects by European local and regional authorities.

MEPs said that the current COVID-19 pandemic is undoing years of progress in terms of economic and human development and it reduces the financial capacities of EU countries for external action. The challenges of today and the Sustainable Development Goals we have set for 2030 force the EU to maximise the efficiency and the effectiveness of every euro invested in development cooperation. There is a need to check that the EU development aid provides pathways for communities and countries to become less and less dependent on aid. The need to review the way is delivered is therefore important.

The adopted text stresses that European development aid and public investments should promote joint priorities and policy objectives including eradicating poverty, climate and environmental action, economic and trade policies and migration management and aligned with the principles of fundamental human rights, democracy and good governance. MEPs stressed that making humanitarian aid and emergency aid allocation conditional on cooperation with the EU on migration or security issues is not compatible with agreed development effectiveness principles.

“The challenges of today and the Sustainable Development Goals we have set for 2030 force us to maximize the efficiency and the effectiveness of every euro we invest in development cooperation. We need to constantly review and check whether what we do really contributes to the development objectives and the goals we want to reach − whether our development policy makes a real difference to overcome poverty, to boost domestic public and private investments, catalyze home-grown development, and to tackle new and emerging challenges. We need to make better use of all the different tools and best practice on how to achieve better aid efficiency. I welcome that we now have a majority in favour of using European development aid as a broader tool, for climate and environmental action, economic and trade policies and migration management. It is an important shift, towards more of partnerships away from prior donor-recipient mentality,” said Rapporteur Tomas Tobé (EPP, Sweden).