|
|
EU EXPANDS: Enlargement May Limit Development
By Stefania Bianchi
BRUSSELS, Apr 30 (IPS) - As ten new countries prepare to join the European
Union Saturday, developing countries and aid agencies are assessing the
effects that an enlarged Europe will have on the bloc's development policy.
Ten new member states (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) will join the
European Union (EU) May 1, and the debate on what effect this will have on the
EU's development assistance is growing.
The European Commission, the EU executive, says that a Europe of 25 will
not harm the bloc's development assistance, but many development agencies
and officials are not so sure.
While many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) recognise the positive
impact of the change, they also see the challenges.
Following enlargement, the EU population will increase by 76 million to 459
million to make it the world's largest integrated market, with a 20 percent share
of the world's market volume.
The bloc will also account for approximately a quarter of global gross national
income (GNI), and will have an almost 40 percent share of exports of goods and
services.
Victor Bulmer-Thomas, Director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in
London says in a statement that "with respect to trade, the bigger single market
in the EU could be good news for developing countries."
He says its effects on development cooperation are "unpredictable", but he
does not see enlargement as a "major risk".
CONCORD, an umbrella network of more than 2,000 European development
agencies, says that enlargement represents an "opportunity and a challenge",
adding that a larger population must now be sensitised and mobilised in favour
of development.
"The enlargement of the EU should represent an opportunity for reinforcing
European development policies and the role of the EU as a global player, with a
view to promoting human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and sustainable
development throughout the world, and to eradicating poverty," CONCORD said
in its report 'EU-Enlargement related challenges for development policies in the
European Union' released February.
Until recently most of the accession countries have been receiving EU aid, but
on joining the bloc they will be expected to implement their own development
policy.
Aid agencies say that the total amount of aid channelled to the African,
Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries should be increased
proportionally to the arrival of the new member states, but are concerned that
the new member states will not be able to meet such requirements as many
currently set aside extremely low budgets for overseas development assistance
(ODA).
Just three of the ten accession countries - Estonia, Malta and Poland - list
poverty reduction as an objective for ODA.
"Current levels of ODA in accession countries are extremely low at between
0.01 and 0.13 percent of GNI, and there is little pressure being exerted on
accession countries by the EU to raise these levels," the CONCORD report
says.
Commission spokesperson for development Jean-Charles Ellermann-
Kingombe said "the EU's development policy is also part of the acquis that has
been accepted by the new member states." He said that "there is no reason why
we should suddenly expect a change of our development policy after May 1."
As a result of enlargement "we will not only welcome ten new member states
of the EU but also welcome ten new members of the international donor
community," he told IPS. "This is very positive."
Many NGOs say the EU should work with accession countries to help them
integrate the EU's acquis in the field of development, and to set up a
"comprehensive and realistic agenda" so new member states can reach an
ODA target of 0.33 percent of GNI by 2006.
But the European Commission remains optimistic. "Our first effort has to be to
help the new member states put the basic structures required for the EU's
development policy into place," says David Donoghue, Ireland's director-
general for development cooperation. "It has to be a division of labour between
the new member states and the old." Ireland holds presidency of the EU for the
first half of this year.
Aid agencies predict that the accession countries will also favour the idea of
humanitarian aid to neighbouring countries and the "near abroad".
Fraser Cameron from the Brussels-based European Policy Centre says the
new member states will also wish to see more resources devoted to "wider
Europe" and less to the developing world.
"They are likely to be less keen than existing members in maintaining a high
level of funding for development aid and would prefer more funding to be spent
on their immediate neighbourhood," he says in a paper, 'Enlargement - The
Political Impact' published earlier this month.
But some NGOs say such a focus should not be a cause for concern. They say
that the emphasis placed by accession countries on neighbouring eastern
European and Central Asian countries should be welcomed by the NGO
community and the EU as a valuable contribution towards poverty reduction.
The overall impact of EU enlargement on development assistance can only be
assessed post-May 1, but NGOs say that work should be done to overcome the
challenges.
"Ultimately the coming months will tell what will change with the arrival of the
accession countries," CONCORD said. "However, only through trying to foresee
the various possible futures could we commit ourselves to working towards that
future which we consider to be our preferable future."
(END/2004)
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
What is RSS?
