Nielson: EU aid on target

Brussels claims to be on track to meet its UN aid commitments despite doubts over the co-ordination of EU development policy.

Development commissioner Poul Nielson stressed the EU was “taking seriously what was pledged in Monterrey”.

The Mexico March 2002 conference saw Europe promise to meet the United Nations target of channelling 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) into development aid.

According to Nielson's projections, the EU will exceed its targets by an extra €19 billion in the period 2003-2006.

Adding that there was “some element of surprise” that the EU was delivering on its promise, he heralded the progress as “impressive”.

“This didn’t look very sexy when we adopted it in Monterrey,” said Nielson.

Nevertheless, Brussels looks like surpassing its own expectations of 0.39 per cent of GNI going to aid by 2006 – an intermediary target agreed on to help meet the UN’s goal of 0.7 per cent.

Nielson tempered his enthusiasm with a warning that EU states must “get out of the paralysis of having different [development] systems imposed by member states”.

“We owe it to our partner countries to simplify development aid management and we owe it to our tax payers to make the best use of the funds that are available to us,” said Nielson.

The European Commission is currently drawing up measures to harmonise development policy across Europe, offering a common legal framework for implementation policies.

The Dane also stressed that the accession of ten new member states to the EU in May would not upset the apple-cart as they will “automatically move into the circle of donor countries,” effectively enhancing Europe’s capacity.

Brussels predicts that its Official Development Assistance (ODA) will hit €38.5bn by 2006.

• Previous article
• Next article