Activites

• 2016/06/07 Vote in plenary scheduled
• 2016/06/06 Debate in plenary scheduled
• 2016/05/02 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A8-0165/2016 summary

    The Committee on Development adopted the own-initiative report by Cristian Dan PREDA (EPP, RO) on the EU 2015 Report on Policy Coherence for Development (PCD). Members recalled that 1.5 billion people are still living in poverty with deprivation in health, education and living standards, and most of them are women. They reiterated that PCD is a key element for delivering the new sustainable development agenda. PCD in the framework of the 2030 Agenda: the report stated that PCD should contribute to the establishment of the rule of law, to impartial institutions and to tackling the challenge of good governance in developing countries. Members regretted that little progress has been made as to its concrete implementation, and called for an EU-wide debate on PCD in the framework of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and its new 17 universal and indivisible sustainable development goals. They called for PCD to be discussed at a European Council meeting in order to foster an interinstitutional debate involving the Commission, the EEAS, the Council, and Parliament, as well as debate at the national level. They also called for concrete recommendations to the EU heads of state and government on effective mechanisms to operationalise PCD and integrate EU strategies to better implement sustainable development goals. Members called on the Commission systematically to consult human rights organisations at an early stage of the policymaking process on development and believed that more emphasis must be put on institutional coordination, whether between EU institutions or with Member States. The governments of the Member States were asked embed PCD in a legally binding act. Stressing the important role that Parliament must play in the process of promoting PCD, they noted the need for an appropriate level of resources and staff to implement PCD correctly. In this context, Members called on the Commission to identify incoherencies without delay and produce an analysis of their cost, as well as to develop adequate monitoring and progress-tracking mechanisms on PCD. They pointed to the need to strengthen PCD in the context of the revision of the European Consensus for Development and of the discussions on the future post-Cotonou agreement. Members discussed a certain number of priority areas as follows; -Migration: acknowledges that the EU is facing its biggest refugee crisis since World War II, the report stressed that strengthening the link between migration and development policies is essential to addressing the root causes of this phenomenon. It underlined that the response to the refugee crisis should not focus only on security concerns and that development objectives must be better integrated so as to make EU migration policies compatible with those that seek to reduce poverty in developing countries. Members also emphasised that the EU needs greater harmonisation of migration and asylum policies, and underlined the importance of developing a single common asylum and immigration policy. In order to enhance coherence between migration and development policies, they called on the EU and its Member States, not to report refugee costs as ODA, as doing so has a huge opportunity cost at the expense of development programmes. -Trade and finance: the committee stressed that the EU and its Member States taken together remain the most important Aid for Trade donor in the world (EUR 11.7 billion in 2013).  It recalled the commitment by Member States to make concrete efforts towards the target of 0.7 % of GNP as ODA to developing countries, and underlined that trade agreements should contribute to the promotion of sustainable development, while noting that trade liberalisation is not per se positive for poverty eradication. Members recalled that EU investment policy, especially when involving public money, must contribute to the realisation of the sustainable development goals and advocated boosting the use of developing- country procurement systems for aid programmes in support of activities managed by the public sector with a view to enhancing the local private sector. Members recalled, however, that aid alone is not sufficient. They believed that innovative and diversified sources of financing such as a financial transaction tax, a carbon tax, an air ticket levy, rents from natural resources, etc., must be considered. They recognised the importance of creating favourable conditions for the private sector in developing countries. Members also called on the EU to set up an appropriate framework to address how corporations integrate human rights and social and environmental standards. They supported an efficient, fair and transparent tax system in line with good governance principles. They called on the EU to ensure that corporations pay taxes in the countries where value is extracted or created by them. They urged the EU, to this effect, to strive for the establishment of a new intergovernmental body under the auspices of the UN on international cooperation on tax matters. -Food security: the report emphasised that achieving global food security, particularly if the more ambitious targets of Agenda 2030, namely to fully eradicate hunger and end all forms of malnutrition, are to be met, it will be necessary promote the establishment of robust regulatory frameworks with clear criteria. It called on the EU to evaluate systematically the impact of EU agricultural, trade and energy policies – such as biofuel policy – on food security in the developing world. The Commission was urged to concentrate on cooperatives, micro, small and medium-scale farming and agricultural workers, and to promote sustainable and agro-ecological practices.  Members emphasised that the EU must support the establishment of processing industries in the agricultural sector and the improvement of food storage techniques. The also called on the EU and its Member States to contribute to the prevention of land grabs. -Climate change: Members called for determined action from the EU, its Member States and all international partners in implementing the recent COP21/Paris climate agreement. The EU and other developed countries must continue to support climate action to reduce emissions and build resilience to climate change impacts in developing countries, and in particular in least developed countries (LDCs). Members recalled the crucial importance of the provision of adequate climate finance in this context, and supported the process of EU energy transition. They called for the establishment of strategic priorities at all levels and across all sectors, and implementation of new binding climate targets. -Security: Members called on the EU to strengthen its capacities for crisis prevention and early response in order to reinforce the synergies between the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and development instruments. They suggested that creating a new instrument dedicated to the development-security nexus might limit incoherencies and increase the efficiency of PCD. This instrument should not be financed through existing development instruments, but through new budgetary appropriations. The report called for reinforced collaboration between the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States in order to deliver a comprehensive analysis that enables an informed choice between CSDP and non-CSDP actions when dealing with a crisis. On the security of Sahel, Members believed that the African Rapid Reaction Force and the Sahel Regional Action Plan 2015-2020 are good examples of a successful implementation of the EU’s comprehensive approach, effectively mixing security, development and governance responses. Lastly, Members called on the Commission and the Member States to continue improving links between humanitarian aid, development cooperation and resilience to disasters so as to enable a more flexible and effective response to growing needs.

• 2016/04/20 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2015/11/26 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading

Documents

• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A8-0165/2016

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)