By Brian Johnson - 16th November 2005
STRASBOURG: The European Parliament is set to back new proposals on development aid and Africa, but warns that progress on both issues must be results orientated.
Talking to journalists ahead of a Thursday joint debate, MEPs Maria Martens and Anders Wijkman welcomed the opportunity to refocus EU aid efforts.
“Europe must do more to help Africa said,” Martens, adding “I am happy that the commission’s new strategy for Africa shows a sense of urgency.”
Martens said she backed the commission’s focus on implementing the stalled Millennium Development Goals (MDG) on poverty reduction.
But she warned that the problem of deep-rooted poverty across many African countries meant that in some countries the MDGs might currently be unachievable.
Structural instability still plagues the continent, according to Martens. Weak and corrupt governments are failing to supply people with basic necessities.
And the Dutch MEP criticised the commission for focusing too heavily on Africa’s more stable nations.
Without good governance, stability cannot be achieved she warned. “The EU must deal with fragile and failed states.”
A one-size-fits-all strategy on Africa has failed in the past, Martens argued.
Anders Wijkman criticised the EU’s lack of coherence in managing development policy.
“Often we offer with one hand and then introduce trade policies with the other that have the opposite effect,” said Wijkman.
He commended the commission’s initiative to take a radical look at EU development policy, saying that all too often member states efforts lacked consistency, leading to duplication, high costs and complications for partner countries.
Wijkman said that the primary goal of the new policy should be the emergence of a ‘European Consensus’ on development issues.
The Swedish MEP took time out from the parliament’s debate on his own climate change report to talk about development.
And echoing Martens, Wijkman said that “We should not underestimate the need for good governance in Africa.”
“There are too many examples of corruption in the past. The two key issues are results and good governance.”
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