Thijs Berman (S&D). - Madam President, the most important message of this excellent report by Filip Kaczmarek is that trade and the market alone will not bring an end to poverty. Some would like to try to revive this liberal utopia in the developing world, although it found its Waterloo in the financial crisis here. Of course we have to facilitate trade – fair trade, sustainable trade. We have to ensure access for all to loans, savings, micro-finance and more, that will allow people to improve their livelihoods. Financial inclusion is a condition for inclusive growth.

We can end poverty by 2030, but not without accountable governments addressing the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable in their countries: of minorities, women and farmers. If the poorest are not heard in their capitals, only the elites will enjoy an unstable wellbeing and that is what makes the human rights-based approach of the EU so crucially important. Development is not a technocratic problem – some fertiliser here, some market there – it is about assisting people in changing their societies if they so wish, step by step, reaching a gradual enlargement of freedoms.