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Feedback from the US-EU Summit
Last week leaders from the United States and European Union met in Washington DC for the regular US-EU Summit.
The team at ONE has reviewed the summit’s declaration [PDF] and picked out some of the key points.
Overall the document contains some very positive language on the need to work together to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015 and development has been ratcheted up the agenda as a focus for cooperation. There’s also a separate annex on Development. The main point is that the US and EU want to work together with more urgency towards the MDG Summit and up to 2015:
‘we recognize that a coordinated international effort is needed to assist developing countries accelerate progress towards the MDGs’
The Declaration itself pledges to re-launch US-EU dialogue on development, and the first meeting to re-launch of this dialogue will happen at ministerial level very soon. Ministerial level meetings will thereafter be annual, with meetings of the re-launched High Level Consultative Group on Development to be held in between.
The Annex to the declaration outlines 3 areas for close cooperation between the US and EU:
- Food security and agricultural development: initial focus on Africa, will join efforts in a Global Partnership for Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition; support for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme.
- Climate change: focus on country-driven adaptation strategies and a pledge to concentrate on the development aspects of climate change.
- MDGs: ‘recognizes that a coordinated international effort is needed to assist developing countries accelerate progress towards the MDGs’. As well as Overseas Development Assistance, policy coherence for development, aid effectiveness and new innovative financing mechanisms mentioned.There are plentiful references to measuring outputs and results of development cooperation as well as a focus on Accra and aid effectiveness.
The declaration comes at a timely moment at the beginning of a new European Commission and Parliamentary mandate in Brussels, and gives us a good kick-off to help ensure that achievement of the MDGs remains high on the political agenda in both Brussels and Washington DC.
A starting position from the EU
The European Council has just wrapped up this afternoon. One of the aims of this European Council was to firmly establish the EU’s position ahead of the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December and the conclusions from the meeting have now been published.
At a time when some of the press coverage around the potential of a global deal being struck in Copenhagen has been a bit negative, momentum can now roll on from this meeting through to the finance ministers in Scotland next week and onwards to Barcelona and a pre meeting of negotiators, and finally (in theory) to Copenhagen itself .
There are some really important messages coming out of the European Council, with strong language on all aspects of climate change and also a conditional offer from the European Union to do more if other countries/blocs step up to the plate.
Here are a few highlights and extracts from the Presidential conclusions:
- The European Council emphasise the need for a legally binding agreement for the period starting 1 January 2013 based on the Kyoto protocol and includes all of its essential features
- They call upon all Parties to embrace the 2°C objective and to agree to global emission reductions of at least 50%, and aggregate developed country emission reductions of at least 80-95%, as part of such global emission reductions, by 2050 compared to 1990 levels
- They also agree that by 2020, the mitigation and adaptation costs to developing countries could be around 100 billion Euro a year and that this should be met though a mixture of private and public finance. The EU Member States are ready to contribute its fair share of these costs
- All international parties should commit that climate financing would not undermine or jeopardize progress towards the Millennium Development Goals
This means the EU will be heading to the December summit with a strong negotiation position. African and other developing country negotiators in Copenhagen will be looking for more, but some participants in Copenhagen coming from other industrialised major emitting nations may be looking to do less. And so the negotiations on financing finally begin in earnest. The European Council taking place on 10 – 11 December (half way through the UN climate summit) will be able to review the early stages of Copenhagen in order to make any necessary decisions. Keep checking back for further updates.
ONE has landed in Brussels!
We’ve shuttled between London and Brussels frequently in the past, and now we’re setting up a permanent office.
Right now Team Brussels consists of me, myself and I. Come next year, we’ll have a small team in place. For the moment I’ve taken a temporary desk space in the ‘Hive’ at the fantastic new Mundo-b NGO building. I’m one of the many solitary bees in the Hive - turns out that fellow bees includes people working on the cotton trade, on Zimbabwe, and the rest of the building is dominated by climate change and development organisations.
It’s a really exciting time for us to be opening up an office and deepening our work in Brussels - it’s all change in the city with a new Parliament already sworn in, a new Commission due by November, and new rules of the game possibly coming in. There may well be a European President to boot. Change brings opportunity and we’re hoping to capitalise on some of that to the benefit of those in the developing world. Budget reform in the EU will bring opportunities to fight for more resources, trade and climate are also in the hands of Brussels. And we will be looking for all the opportunities to make change happen within those processes.
My first week here has been a heady mix of getting reintegrated into the Brussels policy village, working out how to book a meeting room and dealing with the slight technical hitches that accompany moving abroad. There’s a buzz in the air, Brussels is in flux and I’m eager to get on with the job. There’ll be more coming soon!
-Eloise Todd
European Commission Update
On Wednesday April 9th, the European Commission launched its yearly update on how EU donor countries are helping to meet the MDGs. This year President Barroso and Commissioner for Development Louis Michel used the opportunity to make some key announcements on advancing crucial development assistance for African countries. It’s fantastic that the leadership of the Commission is putting development matters so high on his political agenda. Less than a week after the London Summit, the Commission outlined three main ways it would act to help developing countries combat the effects of this economic crash:
- Pushing EU governments to meet their aid promises and ensuring the highest degree of aid effectiveness possible. Development Commissioner Louis Michel’s message was: “We know what we must do: meet our aid targets, advance our money to have an impact when it is most needed, refocus our existing programmes to tackle the crisis and then make every Euro count”.
- The EU is proposing spending more cash for the poorest countries to help fill some of the financing gaps created by the economic downturn. The €1billion Food Facility was intended to be spent over 3 years- now the Commission have promised to spend €800m of it by the end of the year to inject much-needed cash into the agricultural sectors of countries most in need of support for farmers. A whopping €3billion will be brought forward for African, Caribbean and Pacific country governments and another €500m for spending on health, education and other vital social spending.
- Thirdly aid effectiveness is the Commission’s priority. When Louis Michel spoke of ‘making every euro count’ he was alluding to some research he had commissioned which showed that just by working together more effectively, the European Commission and the 27 governments could save a huge €7billion a year which could be freed up to save lives in this downturn. The Commission wants more coordination between donors- it’s common sense that not every donor should work on every sector in one country, and we should be seeing more of donor countries playing to their strengths and taking the lead amongst donors in their specialist areas.
All in all the announcement yesterday was a very positive step- it shows the EU has not just read the G20 communique and agreed- it is doing that rare thing of acting quickly upon agreements. We hope it will convince other G20 countries to do the same, and fast- we’re particularly looking toward the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF to raise more funding for Africa in grant form. Any loans that are given we will argue should be extremely concessional so they don’t spark another debt crisis. There are of course some concerns about the announcements yesterday– Will governments replenish those funds when there’s not enough in the pot next year? Ironically, if the EU alone kept to its 2010 promises, that would mean another €20 billion on overall assistance over the next two years. So the message is simple- we welcome these announcements, on the condition that EU governments stick to their ODA promises.
-Eloise Todd
New EU CO2 Policy Likely to Aid Africa
Due to the EU’s reaffirmation earlier this month to reduce CO2-emissions by 20% by 2020, on January 1, 2013, 10,000 E.U. power plants and energy-intensive factories will have to buy certificates for emissions of carbon dioxide.
It’s relevant to African countries in several ways, but particularly because it is likely that implementing this policy will generate extra resources for Africa to adapt to a changed climate and make progress towards the MDGs.
The policy creates a whole new stream of revenues for EU-governments and the tug-of war over how to use these revenues has already started. Usually, Africa is not on the top of the agenda for European politicians when they talk about spending. However in this case, several particularly good arguments support the idea that a significant part of these resources should be spent in Africa.
Most compelling is that African countries have contributed the least to the current climate change, yet they will be hardest hit and are the least prepared. (more…)
Great News! EU approves 760 million Euros!
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
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
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
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
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.
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The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
The content of each post and each comment represents the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
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TAGS: European Union, Millennium Development Goals, United States