24 Amendments of Bart STAES related to 2009/2149(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 b (new)
Citation 22 b (new)
- having regard to the European Parliament Resolution of 15 March 2007 on local authorities and development cooperation,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 d (new)
Citation 22 d (new)
- having regard to the Communication of the Commission of 8 October 2008 "Local Authorities: actors for development",
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 f (new)
Citation 22 f (new)
- having regard to the Structured Dialogue launched in 2010 by the European Commission with the aim to involve civil society organizations (CSOs) & Local Authorities (LAs) in EC development cooperation,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas the principles of ownership, participation and good governance call for a multi-stakeholder approach in which the various development partners, i.e. local authorities or non-state actors, act in a complementary and coherent manner; and whereas it is important, however, to make a clear distinction between the specific role of local authorities and that of non-state actors, in terms of their sphere of competence, legitimacy and democratic control, experience in the management of local affairs and involvement in the implementation of public policies,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. whereas EU’s funding for international cooperation with Africa comes from three geographic instruments: the EDF for African-ACP countries, the TDCA for South Africa and the ENPI for five North African states; whereas fragmentation of instruments is detrimental to consistency and policy coherence, as enshrined in Article 208 of the Lisbon Treaty,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas the Earth Summit 2012 aims to secure renewed political commitment to sustainable development, to assess progress towards internationally agreed goals on sustainable development and to address new and emerging challenges,
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. RegDeplorets that severalmany of Parliament’s concerns and recommendations, raised during the democratic scrutiny process, in particular regarding a lack of poverty and MDG focus have not been sufficiently taken into account by the European Commission;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Notes that the EU programming leaves generally aside the question of distribution of revenues as an important tool to eradicate poverty but focuses instead on promoting export-oriented growth, achieved i.e. through the liberalisation of trade, on the assumption that it will automatically lead to the reduction of poverty; recalls in this context that a "pro-growth strategy" should not to be confused with a long term development strategy that entails the financing of long-term objectives, such as health, education, access to energy in rural areas, support of small farmers, etc.;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Notes with concern that the substantive scrutiny work carried out by the Parliament did not receive any echo from the representatives of the Member States in the DCI Committee; regrets deeply that contrary to Parliament, Member States did not seem to focus on checking the compliance of Commission proposals with the legal provisions of the DCI;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Recalls that policy coherence for development, development "ownership" and non fragmentation of aid are essential for ensuring aid effectiveness;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Believes that channelling funds to Africa through three different instruments is inefficient and does not respond to Africa’s wish to develop as a unified continent; recommends therefore, in line with the principle of development ownership, to develop a single financing instrument for Africa so as to reflect the "treating-Africa-as-one" principle enshrined in the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) and supporting the continental integration agenda;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Underlines that full compliance with ODA criteria, and in particular with the OECD/DAC requirement that ‘each transaction is administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective’’12, must remain a condition for all measures to be funded under geographical programmes under the new instrument; calls for a more stringent ODA quota for thematic programmes than under the current DCI; 1 See OECD/DAC: 'Reporting Directives for the Creditor Reporting System' 2 See OECD/DAC: 'Reporting Direc, especially regarding thematic programmes on "migration and asylum", where the Commission did not demonstrate clearly how activitives for the Creditor Reporting System'unded in the context of border controls are DACable;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses that achievement of the MDGs must remain the prime objective of the instrument for the period until 2015the support to sustainable development in its economic, social and environmental dimension is the only way to reduce poverty, by addressing the causes of impoverishment; accordingly, takes the view that while the achievement of the MDGs should remain an essential objective of the instrument for the period until 2015, the achievement of the objective of poverty eradication requires to reflect the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, while implementing fully the principle of policy coherence for development; urges the Commission to ensure that EU aid continues to be coherent with the internationally agreed objectives and targets for development which will be adopted by the United Nations and other competent international organisations for the post-2015 period;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Expresses its concern, at a time of serious public budget constraints, about the strong focus placed on private sector investments as a means to leverage more development finance resources; recalls that development cooperation is the only policy of external action (besides humanitarian aid) which has not been designed to serve EU interests, but to defend the interests of the most marginalised and vulnerable populations in this planet; therefore, urges the Commission to ensure that any public finance used to support private sector investment in the South is not diverted from already under-funded sectors (as in the case of the programmes for non-state actors and local authorities for instance), and that such support will effectively enable the development of the domestic private sector and small and medium enterprises in low-income countries;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Recalls furthermore that certain conditions must be put in place to ensure that private investments have a positive impact on the poor; accordingly, urges the Commission to conduct a thorough assessment of how publicly-supported private investments in the South have contributed to positive development outcomes (notably through creation of sustainable jobs), while establishing a strict and binding set of standards to ensure responsible financing (as a way to fight against illicit financial flows) and the deliverance of positive development outcomes;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Agrees that a differentiated approach to the diverse group of developing countries is needed, and that traditional financial aid may become less relev; considers that emerging countries have the potential to finance their own development and fight against poverty through transparent tax collection systems antd for emerging countries; considers that aid for emerging countries, while promoting sustainable economic growth, should still focus on reinforcing the partner country’s fiscal policy and promoting mobilisation ofair redistribution of wealth; calls therefore on the Commission to phase out traditional financial aid through the DCI, while combating against tax havens, tax evasion and illicit capital flight so as to enable countries to raise domestic revenues which should lead to the reduction of poverty and of aid dependency;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Urges the Commission to provide enhanced support for assisting developing and emerging countries in tax reforms with the aim to support effective, efficient, fair and sustainable tax systems; calls on the Commission to effectively integrate the principles of good governance in tax matters into the programming, implementation and monitoring of country and regional strategy papers, while taking the necessary measures to enforce country-by-country reporting of transnational companies;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Recalls that, according to the "European Consensus on Development" (2005), developing countries should be responsible for their own national strategies to achieve these goals; in this context, regrets that while the DCI emphasises the importance of ownership of the Country Strategy Papers, the involvement of national parliaments, as in the case of civil society, has been extremely poor in practice;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Stresses that the involvement of local authorities in development policies is essential for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and ensuring good governance; in particular, recalls that local authorities have a critical role to play in areas such as education, hunger, health, water, sanitation, social cohesion and local economic development, etc.; deems therefore essential to upgrade their role in the next financial instrument, in line with the principle of development ownership;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Insists on strict eligibility criteria for budget support; insists that the Commission must refrain from using this modality in countries where transparency in public spending cannot be assured, that bthe leading role that national parliaments of recipient countries and civil society organisations should play as they are best placed to identify priority sector, prepare Country Strategy Papers and monitor budget allocation; demands that national parliaments adopt Country Strategy Papers and multiannual budgets in consultation with civil society, prior to policy dialogue with donors on Budget sSupport must always be accompanied by actions to develop the receiving country’s parliamentary control and audit capacities and to increase transparency and public access to inform, in order to empower parliamentary scrutiny; thereafter, calls on the Commission to specify in the country strategy papers the involvement of the local authorities, their representative organisation,s and that civil society should be involved in its monitoring; partners in all phases of the cooperation process (dialogues and formulation of strategy papers, programming, implementation, reviews, evaluations);
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. IPoints out that migration is an area where there is a clear need to prioritize policy coherence for development over short-term EU migration considerations, mostly aimed at fighting illegal immigration; highlights that development funds on migration should not be used for strengthening border management and combating illegal immigration; insists that any future thematic programme on migration must be fully aligned with the EU’s development objectives and that the core funding under this programme must fulfil the ODA eligibility criteria; in particular, stresses that projects dealing with South-South migration should be given priority within the Thematic programme;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. SUnderlines that basic education and alphabetization is the starting point of people’s awareness raising process and development ownership; stresses that a new thematic programme on ‘Investing in People’ must put a focus on culture as a tool for emancipation and participation, as well as on the achievement of those MDGs which are most off track and in countries with critical MDG indicators;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 b (new)
Paragraph 22 b (new)
22b. Recalls that one of the reasons why the MDGs are not fulfilled is the failure to recognise the contributions of the environment, natural resources and ecosystems to human development and poverty elimination; notes with concern that while current European Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocates only 3% of the total spending to environmental issues, an additional problem is that a part of the EU and Member States’ funding to developing countries is invested in projects that foster climate change, rather than mitigate it; underlines that there is a need for improvement in policy coherence for development in the area of climate change, especially regarding climate funding and mainstreaming of climate change concerns into EU development cooperation;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 c (new)
Paragraph 22 c (new)
22c. Points out that the Court of Auditors concluded in its ‘Special Report 6/2006’ that the EU made only limited progress since 2001 in mainstreaming the environment in its development cooperation, as Country Strategy Papers did not take sufficient account of environmental issues; accordingly, urges the Commission to ensure that environmental issues are better mainstreamed and systematically monitored throughout all external policies and financial instruments, especially in the face of the current challenge of climate change and biodiversity loss;