Development & Aid, Europe, Headlines, Poverty & SDGs

DEVELOPMENT: EU Citizens Asked the Way

Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Mar 4 2005 (IPS) - Question: Should poverty reduction be at the heart of the European Union’s development policy?

Although an affirmative response may seem obvious, European citizens are being cautioned that the answer is not as clear-cut as it first seems.

The question whether combating world poverty should be a primary objective of the European Union (EU) development policy is at the heart of a public consultation process that the European Commission hopes will engage the bloc’s 450 million citizens.

The EU executive is currently reviewing the bloc’s five-year old development policy and is asking European citizens what they the future of EU contributions to the world’s poorest countries should be through an eight-week online consultation process which closes later this month (Mar. 19).

The main message in the 2000 development declaration was that the primary objective for EU development policy was to combat world poverty. But now it seems that the Commission is not sure that the same principle should still apply.

On the opening page of its consultation webpage, EU commissioner for development and humanitarian aid Louis Michel says the objectives of the EU development cooperation are being reviewed "given the new priorities that have arisen for EU external action and the pressures on cooperation."

Michel says the accelerated globalisation process, new political priorities in an enlarged EU, the emergence of a more robust international consensus reflected in a range of agreements such as the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the debate on the effectiveness of aid have made it necessary to step up cooperation "and extend the scope of partnership agreements with developing countries.."

The online questionnaire, which is open to individuals or organisations, covers a range of 14 development issues such as security and trade issues, immigration, the allocation of financial resources and the environment.

Respondents are asked a series of multiple choice questions such as what the main objectives of the new EU development policy should be, how the EU development policy should relate to its security agenda, and which countries the development policy should cover.

The Commission offers a series of possible answers. For example, to the first question of what the objectives of a new EU development policy should be, respondents can choose between the following:

– the Millennium Development Goals alone; – the Millennium Declaration which includes MDGs and other objectives such as peace, environmental protection, human rights, democracy and good governance, special needs of Africa; – the above plus other objectives of external action such as foreign policy and trade policy geared towards prosperity, peace and global security; – principles are more important than objectives, i.e. coherence of all EU policies and greater complementarity between EU member states and the Commission.

The Commission says it will take full note of all contributions and will publish a report on the results of the consultation before preparing its proposals.

While many development experts welcome the consultation process and recognise the need to increase awareness of the EU’s development policy amongst European citizens, some say the online consultation is only a small step in a broader discussion on the development issue.

"The review offers an opportunity to promote widespread debate in Europe on the EU’s cooperation with developing countries," Simon Stocker, director of the Brussels-based development network Eurostep, told IPS. "Unfortunately the process, in its current form, will do little to promote that debate as it is too short and limited to allow the necessary diffusion to take place, including to people from developing countries themselves."

The result will be that the consultation will essentially be confined to "those already interested and informed about EU development policy," he added.

Sven Grimm, research fellow at the London-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a leading think-tank on international development and humanitarian issues, fears the consultation will not reach a wide audience.

"You have to engage with experts and a broader public at the same time and the two levels require different processes," he told IPS. "It appears to me that much more could have been done to promote the online forum in the development community. The consultation and communication needs breadth and depth to be meaningful. In brief, it’s time for thorough preparation and a proper communication strategy."

Concerns about the limitations of the consultation process may be well founded.

A survey last month showed that public awareness of EU activities in development cooperation is limited. More than three-quarters were unaware of EU contributions to the world’s poorest countries, despite the fact that Europe is the leading aid donor.

The public opinion poll conducted by Eurobarometer, the European Commission’s public opinion centre, also found that some 88 percent of European citizens have never heard of the MDGs, which have among their objectives the drive to halve extreme poverty and ensure universal access to primary education by 2015.

Among development non-governmental organisations (NGOs), who are the most likely to use the consultation, there is also concern that the consultation does not probe deep enough.

"There is a general feeling that its options don’t provide adequate scope for the responses that we would like to make," said Stocker. "There would also seem to be an underlying questioning of poverty eradication remaining the principal objective in a future development policy statement so a number of NGOs are preparing written submissions."

Grimm says the debate should be taken to member states.

"The Commission and member states need to engage in a meaningful discussion on what is meant by poverty reduction and how to go about it in different types of countries," he said. "The discussion in different member states is not on the same wavelength. The Commission needs to proactively initiate the debate and drive it, in particular about its instruments with regard to middle income countries and low income countries."

And for Stocker the answer to the question at the heart of the debate is obvious.

"We are very clear that the principal objective needs to remain the eradication of poverty. The MDGs need to be centrally identified as key objectives for achieving this principal aim. In addition, more attention needs to be given to the objective of diminishing inequalities and to ensuring social inclusion," he said.