By IPS Correspondents
LISBON, Nov 13 2007 (IPS)

"We want to build a more united Europe for development," says Stefano Manservisi, European Union director-general for development policies and its relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific states. "If we are united, we can do more."

Stefano Manservisi Credit: Stefania Milan

IPS: What are EU Commission priorities in its development policy?

Stefano Manservisi: We have two priorities. First, we want to build more on development. Today the 27 member states are together the biggest donor in the world: 56 percent of public funding to development comes from Europe. Working together and speaking one single voice, the EU could make a difference.

Secondly, we have proposed a calendar that the European Council has adopted to increase aid to 0.7 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) by 2015 as the United Nations has asked long ago. Coordinating our action we can limit the bureaucracy which goes with aid. Instead of taking care of donors – for instance, Tanzania has received over 300 donor missions last year – beneficiary countries can actually concentrate on their own development agenda.

This concerns methods. For the first time in EU history we have a political document called Consensus on Development that states the objectives for all member states and the Commission, and it is working well.

IPS: Does the Commission concentrate on specific sectors?

SM: We concentrate on three sectors: the first is peace and democratic institutions in order to build up states able to originate a development process. Secondly, we aim at creating conditions for durable economic growth, by building communication infrastructures to foster regional markets. The third area is education and health. Diseases can jeopardise development, and these countries need to develop their own technical capacities to tackle development problems.

IPS: What is the EU attitude towards beneficiary countries?

SM: We are trying to transform development politics from a donor-beneficiary relationship towards partnership. This way there are more responsibilities for beneficiaries in dealing with public finances and the democratic processes, and we can single out together what are the main problems to be addressed.

We must take from our own experience as the European Union. We cannot think of Africa as a laboratory to try out things because they are poor. We want to share our experiences. In Europe we grew because we have created a common European market that was crucial to our growth. We support projects in Africa to build integrated regional markets, especially in the agriculture sector.

Beyond small projects, that I don&#39t like very much, we prefer to use funds to help states to finance sectors such as health or infrastructure. For instance, payment for nurses and doctors in hospitals in order to develop a national health plan.

IPS: You link development to trade. Is globalisation a risk or an opportunity for development?

SM: Globalisation is both a risk and an opportunity. It is an opportunity because it brought development to many parts of the world, for example Asia. The risk comes from the fact that a good portion of this development has not generated social cohesion, but exacerbated the differences within and between countries.

African countries have lost the opportunity for globalisation, and they have become the marginal amongst the marginal. We have to help them catch up so that they can make the best of the positive aspects of globalisation, such as market opportunities, information technologies and so on. But we also have to help them contain risks like the creation of social divides, and assist them to create conditions for a development which is sustainable.

IPS: How will climate influence development in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries?

SM: Twelve of the 15 Pacific countries we work with have a part of their territory just a few metres above sea level. If climate change keeps warming up the planet, these countries will disappear: it is not a matter of development but of survival.

The Caribbean countries are at risk because all they do for development risks being destroyed by hurricanes that have nowadays an intensity never seen before. Vulnerability is not only structural, but a consequence of climate change.

In Africa all that we are doing to rationally take advantage of rivers and lakes for drinking water and renewable energies is at risk not only because of the drought but also because of the heavy rains causing destruction due to poor infrastructure. African agriculture is full of potential but if it is constantly facing unforeseen disasters, it will be difficult to develop it further.

IPS: What is the EU doing to tackle climate change?

SM: The Commission has just launched the Global Alliance against the Effects of Climate Change, with two objectives. In Bali (at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, December 2007) the European Union and developing countries should vote together to produce a binding and ambitious post-Kyoto agenda.

Secondly, we want to re-orient a part of public aid to development not to environmental projects but to invest it in changing the approach to climate change, and promote awareness through education and energy plans.

We have allocated a first token 350 million euro to sustain national plans for conversion of energy schemes. It is not about formulating small projects which do not make an impact, but changing direction. It is the culture that has to change.

IPS: You said you do not believe in small projects. It is good to have big structural changes, but what about individual behaviour change? At the end of the day it is the people who make the choice to switch off the light or use public transport…

SM: I agree that individual behaviour counts in the end, but I don&#39t believe that as the type of action for development supported by external forces this is the priority. Individual choices must be the result of policy choices and democratic choices.

I am saying this with all the respect I have for voluntary work: it is not the small projects that change things. The small project helps if it serves to change an entire society, to foster a change in policies.

IPS: What is the role of civil society in this process?

SM: Civil society is crucial because at the very end individual behaviour is what counts. We need dialogue, exchange of experiences and awareness.

The civil society of those countries is helped by the society of our countries. We have to organise dialogue and exchange of experiences, create networks and promote this cultural change, instead of small projects. The small project will fail if it is isolated by choices made at the national level of the country.

IPS: Can civil society participate in decision-making concerning development policies?

SM: We have a platform for dialogue with European civil society organisations, and financial instruments to help them. What we do not have yet is a proper platform for dialogue on political choices, where civil society should consider that it is not only about looking for projects to be financed, or a platform to protest. We are missing interaction with civil society to develop better policies in respect of the different roles. (ENDS/IPS/EU/WD/IP/DV/CS/QA/SM/SS/07)

Excerpt: