EU Billion

Great News! EU approves 760 million Euros!

Nov 24th, 2008 1:33 PM UTC
By Roxane Philson

Late Friday night, the EU finally agreed to provide 1 billion Euros of funding to struggling farmers in the developing world. Best of all, after crunching the numbers it looks like 76% of this funding will be new development assistance above and beyond what these countries currently give.

Congratulations to the 15,000 European ONE members who took part in the massive effort and great achievement. We’ll update you later today with more details on the final deal.

While this was a challenging campaign, the EU has shown, for now, that it will not forget people living in extreme poverty during these difficult times. But there are still two tests that remain. Firstly, when these countries write the check they must not simply reallocate other development assistance to fulfill their commitment. Secondly, we’ll be following the process to make sure the Commission spends these funds wisely.

- Roxane Philson, ONE’s EU Deputy Director

EU Billion Update

Nov 12th, 2008 1:35 PM UTC
By Eloise Todd

Our Government Relations Manager Eloise Todd checks in with an update on the EU Billion:

With just a week to go until the EU institutions negotiate the budget, we’re working hard to make sure that the EU’s governments and European Parliamentarians deliver on the billion for poor farmers. The main concern is whether the money will really be additional. There are rumours that some negotiators want to simply raid other pots of development money to fund this Food Facility which would be disastrous. This funding was intended to fill the huge funding gap that has been caused by the food crisis and to deliver swift aid to farmers in developing countries – the seeds, tools and fertilizer they need to get back on their feet again.

Despite these rumours, we know that there are lots of good people working on the inside and outside of this process to deliver this money and we’re working very closely with them. Just a few leaders and Finance ministers who keep putting new obstacles in the way of this Food Facility and we need to keep the pressure on to make sure they know we’re watching and we’ll name and shame those countries who are trying to deliver this money without stumping up fresh funding.

On Sunday I’ll be travelling to Strasbourg to the EU’s Development Days to keep passing the message on to the Ministers that will be there. After that I’ll be lobbying decision-makers in the European Parliament. We’ll keep you posted

-Eloise Todd

€1 billion for the EU’s Food Facility

Oct 30th, 2008 1:38 PM UTC
By Eloise Todd

Here’s the latest from ONE’s London-based Government Relations Manager, Eloise Todd, on the EU Food Facility. The facility is based on a proposal in the European Union to channel 1 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in unused European farm subsidies to farmers in developing countries.

Although the European Parliament voted last week on the EU’s budget for 2009, the decision on how to finance the €1 billion for developing country farmers has been deferred until 21 November, mainly because it’s become such a politically-sensitive topic.

This new date is basically the last chance for the money to be directed to farmers in poor countries. The move to defer the final decision could be a good signal that the Members of Parliament are committed to finding a lasting solution. We sense a real political will by several people within the Parliament to deliver the money, including Jutta Haug, who wrote the 2009 budget report (called a “rapporteur” in EU-speak) and Reimer Boege, who heads up the Budgets Committee .

In these last few crucial weeks, ONE will be working to keep the pressure on EU governments, especially now that some seem to be favoring a creative accounting exercise that could mean not all the money will be new. Instead, it could pull from current aid budgets, which could mean pulling money from existing development programs to finance the proposal.

Whatever is decided on EU financing, we’ll continue to watch each member states’ aid budget closely, as there is a danger that many governments will sign on to the proposal at the EU and then undo their commitments when mapping out their individual agriculture budgets later this year. We will also keep up our lobby work on the content of the proposal, especially how the money will be spent once it’s made available to developing countries. We want the money to go to those in most need and to be spent through the most effective systems. In these difficult financial times, we also need the Council to remember that the world’s poorest are suffering most, and that investing in sustainable development through agriculture is the most prudent investment donor nations can make.

-Eloise Todd

Update on the EU Food Facility: Chasing the €1 Billion

Oct 30th, 2008 1:36 PM UTC
By Eloise Todd

Here’s the latest from ONE’s London-based Government Relations Manager, Eloise Todd, on the EU Food Facility. The facility is based on a proposal in the European Union to channel 1 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in unused European farm subsidies to farmers in developing countries.

Although the European Parliament voted last week on the EU’s budget for 2009, the decision on how to finance the €1 billion for developing country farmers has been deferred until 21 November, mainly because it’s become such a politically-sensitive topic.

This new date is basically the last chance for the money to be directed to farmers in poor countries. The move to defer the final decision could be a good signal that the Members of Parliament are committed to finding a lasting solution. We sense a real political will by several people within the Parliament to deliver the money, including Jutta Haug, who wrote the 2009 budget report (called a “rapporteur” in EU-speak) and Reimer Boege, who heads up the Budgets Committee .

In these last few crucial weeks, ONE will be working to keep the pressure on EU governments, especially now that some seem to be favoring a creative accounting exercise that could mean not all the money will be new. Instead, it could pull from current aid budgets, which could mean pulling money from existing development programs to finance the proposal.

Whatever is decided on EU financing, we’ll continue to watch each member states’ aid budget closely, as there is a danger that many governments will sign on to the proposal at the EU and then undo their commitments when mapping out their individual agriculture budgets later this year. We will also keep up our lobby work on the content of the proposal, especially how the money will be spent once it’s made available to developing countries. We want the money to go to those in most need and to be spent through the most effective systems. In these difficult financial times, we also need the Council to remember that the world’s poorest are suffering most, and that investing in sustainable development through agriculture is the most prudent investment donor nations can make.

-Eloise Todd

More on the New E.U. Ag. Pledge

Jul 10th, 2008 1:39 PM UTC
By Virginia Simmons

There’s a piece in today’s Christian Science Monitor on the E.U.’s new pledge to give 1 billion euros in unused farm subsidies to African farmers.

“In the past, that €1 billion would have gone to paying for the so-called “grain mountains” and “milk lakes” that resulted when EU farmers produced more than they could sell. The European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which consumes 40 percent of the EU’s total budget, provides subsidies for farmers who produce surpluses of certain crops.

But with spiraling food prices (7.1 percent higher in EU member states this April than the previous year), European agriculture no longer needs the safety net. And with many parts of the world suffering food shortages, the EU, said agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel at a conference on the crisis last week, “needs to act now to boost harvests [in developing countries] over the next seasons.”

More info in the piece.