—

meeting in Wiesbaden (Germany) from 25 to 28 June 2007,

—

having regard to Article 17(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

—

having regard to the Partnership Agreement between the Members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, signed in Cotonou (Benin) on 23 June 2000, as amended by the agreement amending the partnership agreement, signed in Luxembourg on 25 June 2005 (‘the Cotonou Agreement’), and in particular, Articles 9, 68, 96 and 97 thereof,

—

having regard to the United Nations Convention of 31 October 2003 against Corruption,

—

having regard to the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Rome on 17 July 1998,

—

having regard to the United Nations Declaration of 16 December 1996 against Corruption and Bribery in International Commercial Transactions,

—

having regard to the Inter-American Convention against Corruption adopted in Caracas on 29 March 1996,

—

having regard to the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption adopted by the second ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union in Maputo on 11 July 2003,

—

having regard to the OECD Convention of 21 November 1997 on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions,

—

having regard to the national laws on money laundering applicable in the ACP-EU States,

—

having regard to the Paris Declaration of 2 March 2005 on Aid Effectiveness,

—

having regard to the Declaration of 2 June 2003 by the G8 Summit in Evian entitled ‘Fighting Corruption and Improving Transparency’ and having regard to the Declaration adopted on 8 June 2007 at the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm (Germany) ‘Growth and Responsibility in Africa’

—

having regard to the European Court of Auditors Special Report No 2/2005 concerning EDF budget aid to ACP countries (2),

—

having regard to the IMF Guide on Resource Revenue Transparency adopted in June 2005,

—

having regard to the World Bank Extractive Industries Review of 2004,

—

having regard to the 40 recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering,

—

having regard to the results of the plenary meeting of the FATF which was held in Vancouver from 9 to 13 October 2006,

—

having regard to the ‘Publish What You Pay’ (PWYP) and ‘Publish What You Earn’ (PWYE) Initiatives,

—

having regard to the principles and criteria of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI),

—

having regard to the support provided by the European Union for the Kimberley process certification scheme for imports and exports of diamonds and to the involvement of the ACP countries in the Kimberley process,

—

having regard to the EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan and EC Regulation 2173/2005,

—

having regard to the African Forest Law Enforcement and Governance Scheme adopted in 2003,

—

having regard to the European Parliament's resolutions of 31 March 2004 on governance in the European Union's development policy (3) and of 6 April 2006 on aid effectiveness and corruption in developing countries (4),

—

having regard to its resolutions of 24 November 2005 on the role of national parliaments in implementing the Cotonou Partnership Agreement and on agricultural and mining commodities (5),

—

having regard to the Commission communication of 12 October 2005 to the Council, to the European Parliament and to the Economic and Social Committee entitled ‘EU strategy for Africa: Towards a Euro-African pact to accelerate Africa's development’,

—

having regard to the parliamentarian's handbook on controlling corruption drawn up by the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC),

—

having regard to the 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published on 6 November 2006 in Berlin by Transparency International,

—

having regard to the report of the fact-finding mission by the JPA Bureau to Mauritania from 23 to 27 February 2006,

—

having regard to the report of the Committee on Political Affairs (ACP-EU/3937/07/fin.),

A.

upholding the principle of the accountability of governments towards their countries and all their citizens for the management of public revenue and expenditure,

B.

whereas the economic and financial benefit derived from the exploitation of natural wealth must be reflected in a substantial increase in human development,

C.

whereas the governments of countries with ample natural resources have the duty and the responsibility to make it a priority to use their revenue to satisfy the basic needs of their populations, particularly in the health and educational sectors, and to combat poverty,

D.

whereas good governance should take account of the fact that this revenue has much greater added value when natural resources are processed and enriched in the country itself than when they are exported as raw materials,

E.

whereas it is also the duty of sovereign governments and the competent public authorities to use revenues from the exploitation of the natural resources of their country in a responsible manner for the direct benefit of its present and future inhabitants,

F.

whereas the exploitation of natural resources can only become a force for sustainable development if its negative social and environmental impact is minimised and its benefits and costs are fairly shared,

G.

whereas the populations of countries with ample natural resources have the inalienable right to benefit in the fairest way possible from the resulting wealth and economic growth potential,

H.

whereas the companies concerned also have a responsibility to ensure that their investments contribute to the sustainable development of the countries whose ample natural resources they are exploiting,

I.

whereas a lack of transparency about the — legitimate — payments which they make to governments represents a considerable business risk insofar as it makes them vulnerable to accusations of complicity in corrupt behaviour and undermines the legitimacy of their activity,

J.

whereas European governments are under an obligation to combat such practices,

K.

whereas poor governance and lack of transparency regarding the management of government revenue from natural resources is likely to aggravate political corruption and increase the risks of misappropriation of public funds,

L.

mindful of the increase in world oil prices over the last 36 months and of the resulting surplus revenue,

M.

whereas the substantial revenue from the exploitation of natural resources, particularly oil, in developing countries may give rise to serious economic and social imbalances, exacerbate social injustice and even encourage a climate of violence if it is not properly used to the benefit of all sections of the population and for the purpose of national development, and whereas, in the case of oil, there is a risk of artificially high growth indicators to the detriment of human development indicators,

N.

whereas the European Parliament adopted in March 2004 an amendment to the directive on transparency requirements calling on EU Member States to encourage companies quoted on European stock exchanges to publish the payments made to governments,

O.

whereas improving governance and accountability in the management of public finance tends to reduce the risks of conflict in relation to the exploitation of natural resources,

P.

whereas a significant increase in fiscal transparency and the eradication of public corruption would help attenuate the political risk and foster a more stable environment conducive to national and foreign investment, particularly in the extractive industries sector, as has been acknowledged by institutional investors managing funds representing a total of EUR 12,3 billion,

Q.

mindful that fiscal transparency and security of energy supply are linked, given that corruption and poor governance in energy-supplying countries are likely to strengthen local feelings of resentment towards the energy sector and trigger threats to energy installations, so reducing the supplies reaching world markets,

R.

whereas poor governance and lack of accountability regarding the exploitation of natural resources may also have serious environmental consequences with excessive logging potentially causing desertification, other climatic changes and environmental damage, affecting human beings, fauna and flora,

S.

whereas the populations of areas being exploited for natural resources do not benefit enough from the resulting profits and are in addition frequently affected by the serious environmental impact of such activities, for example air, water and soil pollution,

T.

whereas natural resources include not only mineral resources but also fauna and flora, clean water and clean air, which should be protected or improved,

U.

mindful of the importance of implementing environmentally-friendly best practice in managing oil resources and the principal natural resources of the ACP countries,

V.

whereas it is important to promote values and virtues such as disinterestedness, integrity, responsibility, transparency and honesty among public officials, with a view to making corruption practices unthinkable and impossible,

W.

whereas the pursuit of integrity and ethical standards is, above all, a way of ensuring that the population is provided with the services it is entitled to expect of the State as regards the exploitation of natural resources,

X.

mindful of the need to strengthen the capacities of the parliaments and democratic institutions of the developing countries to enable them to exercise effectively their powers of executive scrutiny and budgetary authority,

Y.

whereas being endowed with natural resources has in the past not always been a blessing but far too often a curse for the affected populations in countries that lack democratic control, accountability and rule of law, where the fight for resources has fostered corruption and violent conflict under which the local populations have often suffered,

Z.

whereas the growing demand for natural resources by rapidly growing economies such as China has accelerated the international scramble for such resources and often prolonged the rule of undemocratic regimes, violent conflicts and human rights abuses,

AA.

whereas certain companies are failing to adhere to the agreed ILO Core Labour Standards and are responsible for lethal accidents and the use of child labour; whereas they are also the driving force behind the expanding deforestation in Africa, and the surge in Africa's illicit ivory trade, while some have been repeatedly caught fishing illegally in African waters,

1.

Calls on the ACP countries to allocate any revenue from the exploitation of natural resources as a matter of priority to satisfying the basic needs of their populations, particularly in the fields of health, education, the conservation of natural resources and the environment, thus helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);

2.

Calls on the ACP and European countries to respect and fully implement the definitions and recommendations of the Cotonou Agreement relating to good governance (Article 9(3));

3.

Calls on the Member States and the Commission, in their concern for good governance, to attach greater importance to developing the processing sector in the ACP countries than to providing European companies with access to natural resources in ACP countries;

4.

Calls on the African countries of the ACP group to ratify the African Union Convention on preventing and combating corruption; calls on the Caribbean countries to ratify the Inter-American Convention against Corruption; calls on all ACP-EU countries to ratify the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the United Nations Declaration against Corruption and Bribery in International Commercial Transactions and to set in place specific mechanisms for the effective monitoring and implementing of the provisions of paragraph 3 above;

5.

Asks the governments of the European Union Member States and ACP countries to adopt and help put into practice the principles set out in the private initiatives to promote better governance in the management of the revenue derived from natural resources such as the EITI and the ‘Publish What You Pay’ and ‘Publish What You Earn’ campaigns;

6.

Asks the European Commission and the governments of the EU Member States to promote the improvement and full implementation of the EITI, in particular by making the provisions on transparency mandatory, enacting effective control mechanisms and implementing the fifth criterion enshrining the active involvement of civil society in the EITI, and making a financial contribution to the EITI trust fund;

7.

Calls on ACP countries to ensure that the revenues are also used to diversify their economy and develop economic activities at a more advanced stage of the production process rather than being restricted to the extraction of natural resources alone;

8.

Asks the European Commission to dispatch missions to the energy-supplying developing countries to help with implementation of the EITI;

9.

Asks all the ACP countries which have formally signed up to the EITI initiative to proceed with the implementation in practice of its minimum criteria, in particular, the fifth criterion, by ensuring that civil society is in a position to fulfil its supervisory role without restrictions and without fear or intimidation of any kind;

10.

Encourages all the resource-rich countries signatory to the Cotonou Agreement that have not yet formally joined the EITI to do so and calls on the EU Member States and ACP governments to implement the civil society capacity building provisions of Article 7 of the Cotonou Agreement and the recommendations of the two ACP Civil Society Fora held in 2002 and April 2006;

11.

Asks all ACP and EU governments to urge all investors to join the EITI and adhere to other initiatives and conventions that enhance good governance, transparency and accountability regarding the exploitation of natural resources;

12.

Asks all ACP and EU governments to invite also the governments of emerging countries to fulfil their commitments such as adherence to international core labour standards, the abolition of child labour, curbing the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), particularly in conflict zones, and prohibiting illegal imports of raw materials and timber;

13.

Asks the European Commission and the EU Member States to make their development aid to resource-rich countries conditional on progress in the field of good governance, transparency and accountability regarding the management of natural resources by joining and actively implementing initiatives such as PWYP, PWYE and EITI;

14.

Asks the governments of the Member States of the European Union and the European Commission to support the efforts by the Member States to promote transparency in the extractive industries by introducing suitable accounting standards and company law provisions, in view of the backing given by the European Parliament in March 2004 to the amendment to the directive on transparency requirements and the Commission communication of 12 October 2005 on the strategy for Africa;

15.

Asks all the players concerned to implement standards requiring transparency and greater accountability in public expenditure and revenue management systems, including:

16.

Asks all players to ensure that the governments of energy-supplying countries that have experienced serious governance problems and corruption do not benefit from non-essential aid, favourable trading terms or other advantages until such time as they provide evidence of a quantifiable commitment to greater transparency, particularly regarding the national budget;

17.

Calls on all bilateral and multilateral donors and export credit agencies to develop a set of conditions which are not merely abstract but based on the fiduciary liability of governments towards their citizens and a system of partnership where non-humanitarian aid is conditional on compliance with a series of specific jointly negotiated criteria and, in particular, public transparency about revenue from the exploitation of natural resources, in accordance with the principles codified in the ‘IMF Guide on resource revenue transparency’;

18.

Calls on ACP-EU States to ensure that the promotion of good governance, transparency and accountability regarding the exploitation of natural resources are the subject of mutual undertakings and jointly negotiated criteria within the political dialogue provided for in Article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement;

19.

Asks the governments of the EU Member States to ensure that the promotion of transparency and democratic scrutiny regarding the use of revenue in the countries supplying energy to the EU is a priority of the common European energy strategy;

20.

Recommends that the issues of good governance, transparency and accountability regarding the exploitation of natural resources figure prominently in the future ‘Joint UE-Africa Strategy’;

21.

Encourages the implementation of best practice in the management of oil resources as codified in the ‘IMF Guide on resource revenue transparency’;

22.

Asks the ACP and the EU governments and parliaments to ensure that the exploitation of natural resources does not cause major ecological imbalances; in this connection, notes with concern that excessive tree-felling can lead to desertification and other climatic changes, against which action should be taken through responsible forestry and appropriate reafforestation practices, and calls on companies exploiting natural resources to comply with environmental standards;

23.

Calls on national and regional governments, parliaments and institutions to ensure that the legal exploitation of natural resources forms part of an environmental protection plan geared towards measures to protect the air, water and soil and the preservation of diversity in fauna and flora;

24.

Asks all governments to enact laws which ban the import of illegally logged timber; and in the meantime make sure that public procurement procedures are restricted to timber from sustainable and legal sources;

25.

Calls on all timber-producing countries to ensure the sustainable logging of all domestic timber, respecting the rights of local populations and taking account of the environmental impact;

26.

Asks the EU to carry out a comprehensive and formal forestry survey, strengthen the land tenure and access rights of local communities, and ensure meaningful public participation;

27.

Urges all the countries involved in the diamond trade to subscribe fully to the Kimberley certification scheme for international trade in rough diamonds; emphasises the importance of making progress towards independent verification of compliance by the participating countries and the diamond industry with the diamond trading guidelines and of ensuring that the participants in the Kimberley process are able to supervise compliance by the diamond industry;

28.

Calls on the members of the UN Security Council to adopt a definition of ‘conflict resources’ and to add natural resources management to the mandate of the Peacebuilding Commission;

29.

Encourages the installation and proper use of information systems such as the mining data bank;

30.

Stresses that companies exploiting natural resources have a responsibility to promote a transparent economic environment that respects sustainable development and that it is in their interest to so; encourages them to take collective initiatives to this end, such as the certification of ‘clean’ companies;

31.

Points out that, under Articles 96 and 97 the Cotonou Agreement, serious cases of corruption may lead to consultations;

32.

Calls on the ACP countries to launch a national public debate about the utilisation of revenue from natural resources and social justice;

33.

Asks the oil-producing ACP States to respect, support and encourage the activities of anti-corruption activists and advocates of transparency;

34.

Stresses the role of the national parliaments of the ACP countries in promoting good governance and recommends that this role be recognised and officially established in the future ‘Joint EU-Africa Strategy’;

35.

Calls on the national and regional ACP and EU parliaments, along with the representatives of civil society, to cooperate in establishing a system of checks and balances, including criminal proceedings, to counter corruption on the part of governments and administrations;

36.

Urges governments, institutions and all political leaders to allocate a proportion of the revenue resulting from the responsible exploitation of natural resources to increase the earnings of civil servants, police officers and employees in the relevant economic sectors, with a view to making corruption less attractive;

37.

Calls on the governments of the ACP countries and the European Commission to support the ACP national and regional parliaments in their work as a budgetary authority through dialogue, information sharing and capacity building;

38.

Asks the Commission to draw up a communication defining the European Union's strategy for strengthening parliamentary democracy and the rule of law in the developing countries;

39.

Encourages the national parliaments of the ACP countries to exert pressure on their governments to combat internal corruption and thus promote better governance in the management of public revenue through the incorporation of anti-corruption legislation and independent monitoring mechanisms aimed at greater transparency or providing more access to information about the use and allocation of revenue deriving from the exploitation of natural resources;

40.

Emphasises that it is also essential to strengthen the judicial system, the independent judiciary and the supreme audit institutions in the ACP countries;

41.

Calls also on the ACP parliaments to adopt specific codes of conduct for good governance so as to prevent any risk of internal corruption; believes that publishing the incomes of parliamentarians may also contribute to greater transparency;

42.

Calls on the national and regional parliaments to support and facilitate action by the representatives of civil society to combat poor governance and corruption by enabling them to carry out their work under optimum conditions and with maximum freedom of action and guaranteeing them the capacity, the means and the necessary resources;

43.

Asks that civil society and national parliaments participate in effective budgetary monitoring in the form of public expenditure tracking surveys (PETS) which make a detailed comparison between ‘income’ and ‘outcome’ on the basis of the criteria applied by the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC);

44.

Believes it appropriate to draw up specific social indicators so as to obtain more detailed data about the quality of governance achieved by the signatories to the Cotonou Agreement and calls for transparency on the part of the civil society organisations involved regarding the management of the funds they receive;

45.

Calls on governments, institutions and all political leaders to ensure that officials are given special training and made aware of the importance of the responsible use and environment-friendly exploitation of natural resources;

46.

Stresses that the fight against corruption can contribute effectively to the promotion of a more secure investment climate; calls on the European Union as co-chair of the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) programme — which provides a standard framework for assessing fiduciary risk in the recipient countries — to include specific PEFA indicators designed to measure the level of corruption;

47.

Asks the Commission to take the levels of corruption thus detected as its basis for promoting good governance and for initiating consultations under Articles 96 and 97 of the Cotonou Agreement regarding appropriate measures against corrupt regimes; points out, however, that the promotion of good governance should not serve as a pretext for unilaterally imposing conditions for aid;

48.

Points out the important part played by regional initiatives in reducing corruption and promoting good governance, such as the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM); emphasises the need for the African countries to implement these initiatives and for the Commission and the Member States to provide technical and financial assistance to this end;

49.

Asks the Member States of the European Union possessing financial centres to take all the necessary legal and administrative measures to guarantee the repatriation of illegally acquired funds to the country of origin;

50.

Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the European Commission, the Commission of the African Union, the Pan-African Parliament and national and regional parliaments, and the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC).

—

meeting in Wiesbaden (Germany) from 25 to 28 June 2007,

—

having regard to Article 17(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

—

having regard to the objectives of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 in the area of trade and poverty alleviation,

—

having regard to the UN report on food security in developing countries, presented by the UN Special Rapporteur to UN Commission on Human Rights in March 2002 (2),

—

having regard to the Cape Town Declaration on future ACP-EU negotiations of new trading arrangements,

—

having regard to the 1996 World Food Summit commitment to reduce the number of undernourished people by half by the year 2015, which is far from being achieved (3),

—

having regard to the UN declaration concerning the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the its commitment to eliminate poverty (4),

—

having regard to the successive Human Development Reports drawn up by the United Nations Development Programme,

—

having regard to the Midterm Review of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) by ACP regional networks of farmers' organisations, published on 10 December 2006 (5) and the ongoing EPA negotiations,

A.

whereas, according to the 2006 UNCTAD report on LDCs, the number of people living in extreme poverty has more than doubled over the last thirty years, rising from 138 million in the 1960s to 334 million in 2000 and, if current trends persist, the number of people living on less that USD 1 a day will rise from 334 million to 471 million by 2010,

B.

whereas hunger, malnutrition, and the exclusion of millions of people from access to food are consequences of, among other things, government economic, agricultural and trade policies in both the developing and industrialised countries,

C.

whereas agriculture is the major economic sector for most of the ACP populations; whereas their livelihoods depend on agricultural production and related activities, an estimated 60 % of the working population being employed in this sector in all ACP countries; whereas 73 % of the rural population in Africa consists of smallholder subsistence farmers, for whom food security is the top priority,

D.

whereas biological diversity, sustainable agriculture and food security depend absolutely on the recognition of ACP countries food sovereignty and the policy space necessary to protect ACP countries' fragile economic sectors and farmers' individual and collective rights to store, exchange, distribute and improve seeds, so as to enhance food production,

E.

whereas most agricultural production and exportation activities in the ACP countries are basically carried out by small family farms, which are very sensitive to price fluctuations,

F.

whereas most ACP agricultural exports depend on one or two non-processed products that bring little added value to the economy, thereby making their economies all the more vulnerable,

G.

whereas, over the last 15 years, growth figures for traditional agricultural exports such as coffee, cocoa, leather and skins have been slack in the EU market contrasting with the spectacular (sixfold) growth in respect of new products such as flowers and the rapid expansion of niche markets in Fair Trade and organic products, which are showing great potential,

H.

whereas the Structural Adjustment Programmes being implemented since the 1980s have led to a reduction in government support for small farmers and food production and contributed to the weakening of local agriculture,

I.

whereas the radical policy changes in the ACP agricultural system include the removal of price control on farm input and output, a drastic reduction in import tariffs, reductions in government support for agricultural extension and veterinary services, withdrawal of parastatal agricultural marketing organisations and the opening up domestic markets to external competition,

J.

whereas local ACP farmers are being undermined by imports of staple products for domestic consumption, such as cereals, milk, meat, vegetables, and processed products,

K.

whereas the cash crop economy, unavoidably dictated by geo-climatic conditions and terrain, is putting the ACP population in the highly paradoxical position of producing food for international markets while importing subsidised staple food products from rich countries to cover their local needs,

L.

observing that ACP countries' export revenue has decreased for the past decades despite their absolute advantage in respect of tropical products, commodity price fluctuations having caused a collapse in the price of tropical products such as coffee, cocoa, palm oil and cotton, by as much as 60 %, which is having a disastrous social and economic impact on the ACP populations,

M.

whereas the current EPA negotiation process is inappropriate, particularly as regards the agricultural sector, given the enormous differences in productivity and competitiveness between the six ACP regions and EU,

N.

recalling that ACP-EU trade relations are rooted in the Yaoundé agreements between the former colonial powers and their ex-colonies which sought to secure access for Europe to certain raw materials, while providing the ACP countries with dependable outlets and valuable export earnings on a stable and predictable basis, in particular under the Commodity Protocols,

O.

whereas, according to the Second UN World Water Development Report (2006), 75 % of the population of Africa live in arid or semi-arid regions and around 20 % in areas where there are wide annual climate fluctuations,

P.

whereas the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report concludes that approximately 60 % of the world's ecosystem, including fresh water and fisheries stocks, is being degraded or used unsustainably; whereas, the world's poorest people are suffering most as a result, the most vulnerable areas being water, agriculture, human health, biodiversity, and rising sea levels,

Q.

whereas floods and droughts are expected to occur more frequently, leading to famine and widespread disruption of socio-economic wellbeing, particularly in Africa, while rising sea levels are threatening the viability of certain Pacific islands,

R.

whereas, according to the 2007 Fourth IPCC Assessment Report, climate change over the next 50 years could impede achievement of the MDGs, with agricultural yields in some African countries likely to fall by up to 50 % by 2020 and potable water supplies becoming insufficient in certain small islands in the Caribbean, Africa and Pacific,

S.

whereas, according to FAO estimates, 7 million agricultural workers have died from HIV/AIDS since 1985, and 16 million more deaths are likely to occur in the next two decades in the 25 most affected countries in Africa,

T.

whereas, in the ten most affected African countries, labour force decreases of between 10 and 26 %, are anticipated, which present a very serious threat to public health and the social and economic development of Africa, where agriculture plays a central role,

U.

whereas HIV/AIDS predominantly affects the productive labour force, depriving the affected regions of their food producers and farmers, and decimating the agricultural sector for generations to come,

V.

whereas the issues of small-scale farming and HIV/AIDS are intrinsically linked, given that a sustainable small scale agricultural sector is important, not only in providing the means to pay for Anti-Retroviral (ARV) drugs, but also in providing the balanced and nutritious diet that is necessary for these drugs to be effective,

W.

whereas coping strategies (access to land, credit and medicines) and new tools to address the specific needs of the rural populations affected by the pandemic, especially the elderly, women and adults weakened by illness, should be developed,

X.

whereas, despite the fact that the majority of the poor people in ACP counties live in rural areas, neither national governments nor EU development cooperation policy are giving priority to the development of agriculture and rural development,

Y.

whereas only 4 out of 78 ACP countries have made agriculture a priority sector under the 9th EDF,

Z.

whereas 30,7 % of the 9th EDF has been allocated to structural adjustment programmes, 21,4 % to transport, only 7 % to rural development and 1,1 % to sectors specifically related to agriculture,

AA.

whereas, although most of the producers are women, no recognition is being given to their work and very little attention is being paid to their specific needs,

AB.

whereas, under the 10th EDF, only two focal sectors per country are chosen,

AC.

whereas access to credit is a major problem for small farmers and this is hampering their development,

AD.

whereas small farmers in Less Favoured Areas should be given priority, having traditionally missed out on agricultural support; whereas the principle of subsidising and investing in remote and deprived areas is a well established principle of EU cohesion policy,

AE.

whereas the EU is currently in the process of developing an ‘Aid for Trade’ Strategy which could result in increased support for small-scale farmers,

1.

Considers that ACP-EU development cooperation policy should be based on the recognition of the right of the ACP countries to protect their agriculture in order to guarantee decent earnings for small farmers, increase local production and guarantee food security, while allowing selective market openings, as was the case in Europe;

2.

Believes that the fight against poverty and food insecurity must address the structural causes of poverty in developing countries, and, accordingly, calls for measures to promote access to land, water and biodiversity resources and to encourage a policy of local support for sustainable agricultural smallholdings;

3.

Supports the Maputo Declaration (6) of African Heads of State, which recognises the central role of agriculture in the fight against poverty and the need for a 10 % increase in budgetary support in this sector;

4.

Believes that farmers' organisations must be recognised as important players in initiatives affecting the rural and agricultural sectors and must be included in the non-government group regularly consulted by the EC; believes, in particular, that the interests of small-scale subsistence farmers should be adequately represented;

5.

Asks both the EU and ACP countries to reorient their policy by putting agriculture at the heart of EDF programming to take account of the fact that the majority of the poor people in ACP countries lives in rural;

6.

Calls on the EU to support the structural transformation of production in poor countries away from an export-led economy towards an intra-regional sustainable development strategy, taking into account the real need of the populations and seeking to reduce dependency on industrialised countries and build domestic and regional markets;

7.

Reiterates the importance of making sufficient means available to facilitate compliance with rules such as those concerning labelling, packaging and public health requirements for products coming from small farmers and exported to regional and EU markets, and to provide suitable training for farmers;

8.

Reiterates the importance of making adequate means available for small farmers, in particular women, to invest in the improvement of local production processes;

9.

Recommends making increased means available to the organisations serving the rural communities and producers by providing EDF funding under the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement;

10.

Calls for EDF assistance for conversion to organic farming, where possible and Fair Trade farming where appropriate, in order to promote long term sustainable production as well as increasing farmers' income per kilogram produced;

11.

Calls for EDF assistance to enable the use of modern sea water desalination and water quality improvement technology in all areas where water is scarce;

12.

Calls for EDF assistance to reduce the use of capital intensive pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in favour of more sustainable alternative sources of nutrients and plant protection products adapted to local needs;

13.

Calls for the needs of small-scale subsistence farmers to be prioritised in ACP and EU development strategy policies, given that they make up a high percentage of ACP farmers and are particularly vulnerable;

14.

Considers that some free trade agreements between unequal partners have exacerbated poverty and are having an adverse impact on food security and contributing to the deterioration of the situation of some net food importing ACP states; calls on the EU and the Member States to take this on board while considering the allocation of resources under the scaling-up of ODA to trade-related adjustment requirements;

15.

Observes that the free trade policy package designed by the donors, which includes drastic import tariff reductions, has resulted in increased food imports in several African countries: imported rice in Burkina Faso having increased from 99 000 tonnes in 1996 to 137 808 tonnes in 2000 and local paddy rice production having decreased from 111 700 tonnes in 1997 to 66 300 tonnes in 2001, with rice imports today in Cameroon covering 87 % of the population's need at the expense of local producers;

16.

Calls on the ACP countries to achieve solid, functioning, sustainable and complementary regional integration before considering a Free Trade Agreement with the EU and/or others and considers that ACP-driven regional integration should be a precondition for the conclusion of development-oriented EPAs;

17.

Notes with surprise that the regional configurations for conducting the EPA negotiations do not always correspond to existing regional structures within which the ACP countries are currently working;

18.

Calls on the parties involved in the on-going EPA negotiations to ensure that the obligation to safeguard the benefits underpinned by the guarantees enshrined in the existing trading arrangement is upheld and complied with so that no ACP States are worse off in the future EPAs;

19.

Considers that the current EPA free trade negotiations could pose a serious threat to the ACP local production if they lead to competition between two agricultural systems which differ greatly in terms of productivity, policy and EU subsidisation, and urges the EU to take account of the views of local governments;

20.

Points out that fair trade between the North and the South entails paying a fair price for the resources and agricultural products of the developing countries i.e. a price which reflects internal and external costs, whilst respecting the minimum criteria governing working conditions, wages of the workforce and environmental protection; urges the EU and ACP to step up their support for Fair Trade in line with the commitment contained in Article 23(g) of the Cotonou Agreement;

21.

Stresses the need to support public and regional development processes in the ACP countries; calls for local structures and regional networks for agricultural production and distribution to be strengthened;

22.

Urges strongly that generally-available funding instruments for financially weak producers be developed and utilised; stresses the importance of small and medium-sized loan programmes to promote rural development and support local producers, local cooperatives and the setting up of businesses, particularly by women;

23.

Points to the devastating impact of climate change on vulnerable countries, the scale of food emergencies occurring each year in Africa having tripled since the mid-1980s, and in 2006 alone more than 25 million Africans faced food crises;

24.

Notes that a 2005 study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) established a direct link between global climate change and increased rates of malaria, malnutrition, and diarrhoea, predicting that diseases and other human hazards will increase more rapidly in Africa, because it is ill-equipped to deal with them;

25.

Calls on the ACP and EU countries to put climate change at the heart of strategic development policy and address the global warming threat to food production, which a UN report predicted would fall by 5 % by 2080, while between 25 % and 40 % of Africa's natural habitats could also be lost, and 30 % of its coastal infrastructure destroyed;

26.

Calls on the EU to fulfil its goal of ensuring a maximum temperature increase of 2 degrees, the necessary investment outlay to be met by the industrialised countries;

27.

Demands an environmental impact assessment of trade liberalisation agreements in order to identify their ecological costs and their impact on food security, energy resources, and global warming;

28.

Expresses its serious concerns at the potentially harmful effect of HIV/AIDS on sustainable development in the ACP countries, and in particular its impact on subsistence and commercial farming due to a diminishing rural labour force, and the loss of those with agricultural knowledge and skilled workers, resulting in a fall in productivity, decreased employment opportunities and food insecurity;

29.

Considers that the fight against HIV/AIDS should be at the heart of ACP governments and the EU development policies, in order to deal with the devastating consequences of HIV/AIDS on food security and socio-economic development and that measures to combat HIV/AIDS should accordingly be linked with agriculture and rural development programmes;

30.

Considers that the high cost of drugs to combat HIV/AIDS and other curable diseases presents a serious threat to agricultural production and the development of the rural sector in the ACP countries;

31.

Stresses that the structural adjustment policies pursued by the International Financial Institutions (IFI) and supported by the European Union since the 1980s, which are based solely on economic deflation through monetary measures, the application of market economy principles and less state involvement, are not equal to the task of reducing poverty;

32.

Calls for the elimination of all EU export subsidies as they are gravely undermining local food production;

33.

Welcomes in this context the decision taken by the EU at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) conference in Hong Kong in 2005 to abolish agricultural export subsidies by 2013, and urges that implementation of the decisions taken be brought forward;

34.

Calls for a commitment from the EU Member States and the European Commission to address the structural causes of massive migration by changing their current policies, including the dumping of EU products on the third-world markets, in order to allow African countries to protect and build their economies, guarantee decent earnings for their populations, thereby offering better prospects for the future;

35.

Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council and the European Commission.

—

meeting in Wiesbaden (Germany) from 25 to 28 June 2007,

—

having regard to Articles 177, 178, 179, 180, 181 and 181a of the Treaty establishing the European Community,

—

having regard to the Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 (the ‘Cotonou Agreement’) (2), and amended in Luxembourg on 25 June 2005 (3), and in particular Article 13 thereof on migration,

—

having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled ‘Migration and Development: some concrete orientations’ (4),

—

having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament entitled ‘EU Strategy for Action on the Crisis in Human Resources for Health in Developing Countries’ (5),

—

having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council entitled ‘Contribution to the EU Position for the United Nations' High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development’ (6),

—

having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament entitled ‘The global approach to migration one year on: towards a comprehensive European migration policy’ (7),

—

having regard to the European Commission's Policy Plan on Legal Migration (8),

—

having regard to the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), held in Khartoum on 23-24 January 2006, which reaffirmed the scope and impact of migration on development,

—

having regard to the report adopted by the plenary session of the Meeting of Experts from the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean on Migration in March 2006,

—

having regard to the Brussels Declaration and Plan of Action on Asylum, Migration and Mobility, adopted at the first Meeting of ACP Ministers in charge of Asylum, Migration and Mobility, held in Brussels on 13 April 2006,

—

having regard to the Joint Africa-EU Declaration on Migration and Development, adopted at the EU-Africa Ministerial Conference held in Tripoli on 22-23 November 2006,

—

having regard to the outcome of the EU-Africa Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development held in Rabat on 10-11 July 2006,

—

having regard to United Nations General Assembly resolution on ‘International migration and development’ (9),

—

having regard to the conclusions of the European Councils of December 2005, March 2006 and December 2006,

—

having regard to the outcome of the United Nations General Assembly High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development, held in New York on 14-15 September 2006,

—

having regard to the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations entitled ‘International migration and development’ (10),

—

having regard to the report of October 2005 by the Global Commission on International Migration entitled ‘Migration in an interconnected world: New directions for action’ (11),

—

having regard to the report of June 2006 of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) entitled ‘Effects of migration on sending countries: what do we know?’,

—

having regard to the report of 2002 of the OECD entitled ‘International mobility of the highly skilled’,

—

having regard to the report of the World Bank entitled ‘Global Economic Prospects 2006: Economic Implications of Remittances and Migration’ (12),

—

having regard to the ‘Human Development Report 2001’ of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),

—

having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 6 July 2006 on development and migration (13),

—

having regard to Article 17(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

—

having regard to the report by the Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment (ACP-EU/100.012/07/fin.),

A.

whereas the right of individuals to move abroad is an inalienable human right,

B.

whereas international migration has become a priority issue on the international agenda, recently addressed by policy-makers at global, European, Euro-African levels and Euro-ACP nation state levels, and there is an increasing recognition that migration and development are closely interlinked at global level and that they influence each other,

C.

whereas there is a growing consensus in policy circles that a better management of migrations may generate very important gains, perhaps more important than the removal of world trade barriers,

D.

whereas Europe, both at Community and at Member State level, has not yet adopted an integrated migration policy, with migration, development, trade and security policies being run by various non-coordinated departments,

E.

whereas there is no international consensus on the actual impact of the migration of the (highly) skilled for the countries of origin and the ‘brain debate’ is still marked by a considerable amount of confusion and frustration, especially due to the lack of reliable statistical data and the lack of impact assessment studies on potential policy recommendations to address the ‘brain drain’ phenomenon,

F.

whereas the issue of the brain drain has not been sufficiently addressed in the framework of the EU-ACP dialogue,

G.

whereas in most ACP countries over 10 % of the tertiary-educated adult population have emigrated to the EU, North America and other developed countries, and sub-Saharan Africa is the region most severely hit by the migration of skilled workers, with almost the entire region witnessing a rate of tertiary-educated population living in OECD countries over 20 % (14), and some small countries reaching a dramatic rate of 80 % (15),

H.

whereas, while the main centres of migration are Asia and Latin America, Europe's highly skilled migrants come mostly from Africa (13,5 % of highly skilled EU residents born in non-OECD countries) (16),

I.

whereas statistical data on migration flows from some countries in Africa are often incomplete and outdated, depriving policy-makers of an important tool with which to make decisions,

J.

whereas the UNDP has stated that the brain drain represents a loss of billions of dollars for developing countries (17), given the importance of knowledge as a decisive factor of growth in a globalised world,

K.

whereas in sub-Saharan Africa, the brain drain can lead to labour shortages in vital sectors, particularly in health and education, with devastating consequences on the supply and quality of such essential services,

L.

whereas the departure of a skilled migrant signifies for the country of origin the loss of tax revenue and at worst a loss, at best no direct return, of investment in previous education and training of skilled professionals as well as a loss of skills and experience that would contribute to development,

M.

whereas the brain drain slows down the innovation process in sending countries, further harming the potential for economic growth,

N.

whereas the brain drain may have social effects on family composition, gender equality, and children's education and health,

O.

whereas the growth, health and education of the children of migrants are affected by migration, with either positive (remittances can relieve child labour and increase households' expenditure on education and health) or negative (family disintegration and stress, lower parental supervision can result in declining school attendance and results) outcomes,

P.

whereas many European countries have adopted legislation to facilitate the arrival of skilled workers, in particular by putting in place selective admission policies for migrants under the term ‘chosen migration’, in order to compete with North America to attract the most able citizens from developing countries, which has exacerbated the haemorrhaging of skills from many Southern countries, drastically in the case of sub-Saharan African countries,

Q.

whereas, while Europe and ACP countries have committed themselves to working towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including achieving universal primary education (goal No 2), reducing child mortality (goal No 4), improving maternal health (goal No 5) and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases (goal No 6), meeting those objectives could be threatened by the large-scale exodus of professors, doctors and nurses from ACP nation states to OECD countries and made more difficult by the lack of international regulatory frameworks designed to ensure that the objectives are met,

R.

whereas skilled migration from developing countries to Europe is fuelled by economic factors (poverty, underdevelopment, low wages, poor education system, ageing and declining population in OECD countries leading to labour shortages), political factors (violence, conflicts, political repression, especially against intellectuals, aggravated by their exile) and — particularly for African countries — by geographical proximity, common language and colonial or historical ties,

S.

whereas manpower needs in European countries give rise to an adverse effect by draining the skilled labour force from ACP countries, thereby contributing to a decrease in the quality of life and public social services in ACP countries,

T.

whereas the issue of irregular or forced migration is being addressed in terms of security considerations, rather than in the wider context of development and taking account of the problems of migration in development strategies,

U.

whereas skilled migration can have positive consequences for the individual migrant, better economic prospects and higher salaries, for his or her family in the country of origin, and for the country of origin itself, in particular through the sending of remittances,

V.

whereas it is vital to note the positive contribution that migration could make to promoting better understanding amongst civilisations and cultures and to transcending post-colonial and territorial divisions through the establishment of relationships between states and peoples,

W.

whereas difficulties of integration experienced by migrants in receiving countries and of reintegration in their countries of origin, discrimination and ‘brain waste’ (where a migrant is hired below his/her skill level) can hinder migrants' career development,

X.

whereas remittances are the second-largest source of external finance for developing countries, have a positive impact in countries of origin (mainly an increase in migrants' families' income and an increase in consumption and investment — fuelling, in turn, economic growth) and have a counter-cyclical effect in the event of economic crises, wars and natural disasters, but whereas up to 20 % of their value is absorbed by handling charges,

Y.

whereas the effectiveness of voluntary codes of conduct on ethical recruitment (which in certain cases do not adequately comply with the provisions laid down by the International Labour Organisation (ILO)) has been called into question by experts and practitioners, particularly when limited to the public sector,

Z.

whereas circular migration (allowing two-way movement between countries of origin and destination) facilitates genuine international mobility, fosters international awareness and offers significant opportunities for the development of host countries and countries of origin, and should therefore be encouraged and facilitated,

AA.

whereas return migration has a better chance of addressing the brain drain and of enhancing development when it is based on voluntary return of migrants to their countries of origin, especially if this is adequately supported,

AB.

whereas return migrants may, paradoxically, be extremely difficult to reintegrate into their countries of origin and may also be more vulnerable to unemployment in their countries of origin than people who have not migrated,

AC.

whereas there is evidence that gathering groups of migrants, such as diasporas, within national or transnational associations of migrants, and channelling their activities towards development, a phenomenon known as ‘co-development’, can have a very positive outcome for both receiving and sending countries,

AD.

whereas the ageing European population will put even more pressure on the skilled labour market and thus increase the problems already visible, and therefore a more responsible and better management of skilled labour migration will be necessary in the EU and ACP countries,

AE.

whereas ‘one-size solutions’ do not fit all; whereas better research into ACP national labour markets will therefore be necessary in order to bridge the information gap and to address the shortcomings of skilled labour migration more adequately,

1.

Calls on the EU Member States and ACP countries to increase their efforts to meet their commitment to achieving the MDGs, and in particular halving extreme poverty in the world by 2015;

2.

Stresses the fact that the potential benefits of well-managed international migration can be greater than those generated by freer international trade;

3.

Points out that a bad and incoherent migration policy has enormous consequences in terms of individual suffering and permanent under-development;

4.

Urges the EU and ACP countries to address migration challenges, including the brain drain, in a spirit of true partnership for development, on the basis of the Cotonou Agreement and in particular Article 13 thereof, and develop specific migration policies and regimes towards developing countries from which skilled workers migrate on a wide scale, with particular regard to sub-Saharan African countries, with a view to mitigating the adverse economic and social effects of the migration of skilled workers;

5.

Expresses concern at the current migration policies of the European Commission and of EU Member States focused on security priorities rather than on development priorities;

6.

Expresses concern at the potential adoption by the EU of discriminatory practices amongst different categories of migrants and calls upon the European Commission to prevent it; calls, therefore, upon the Commission to extend to all categories of migrants the advantageous working and living conditions for highly skilled migrants, as suggested in the Policy Plan on Legal Migration (18), soon to be reflected in a proper directive, such as an EU work permit (EU green card), issued by one Member State but valid throughout the EU;

7.

Stresses that EU development aid should be aimed at eradicating poverty, thus tackling some of the underlying causes of migration;

8.

Stresses the need for integrated migration policies at international, regional (including EU and ACP levels) and national levels by ensuring mainstreaming of migration concerns in poverty reduction strategies and coherence between all policies that can influence migration, such as agriculture, fisheries, trade, development, security, justice and home affairs, and foreign affairs;

9.

Urges the European Commission, EU Member States and ACP countries to address jointly migration and development policies and to explore synergies between them, in order to enhance the effectiveness of both policies;

10.

Urges the EU Member States, international intergovernmental institutions and other relevant institutions to design and implement preventive measures and strategies intended to eradicate racial discrimination, xenophobia, ethnocentrism and related intolerance against migrants from ACP countries;

11.

Believes that a common migration policy at EU level requires the extension of codecision with Parliament and qualified majority voting in Council, and calls on the Council to act accordingly;

12.

Welcomes the April 2006 EU Council conclusions aimed at addressing labour shortages in the health sector in developing countries;

13.

Calls on the European Commission and EU Member States to develop and implement, as stated in the April 2006 conclusions, an EU Code of Conduct (compliant with the ILO provisions) for ethical recruitment of health workers, and commends those EU Member States which have already done so, like the UK;

14.

Recommends that the scope of the EU Code of Conduct be extended to other vital areas such as education and that an improved code be based on the objective that both public and private recruiters should adopt an ethical approach to, or even better abstain from, the hiring of skilled migrants working in any area in which their country of origin suffers from a drastic labour shortage;

15.

Supports bilateral and multilateral agreements between countries of origin and receiving countries in order to:

16.

Stresses that a voluntary code of conduct on ethical recruitment, particularly if limited to the public sector, is a good measure but by no means enough to address the consequences of massive skilled migration — incentive measures in the countries of origin and the receiving countries are required;

17.

Calls on the EU and ACP countries to significantly increase investments in training and education in developing countries, targeting sectors suffering from labour shortages, especially health and education;

18.

Calls on the EU and ACP countries to create national and regional centres of excellence, especially in the form of universities and research institutes particularly in the field of health and education; further calls on the EU and ACP countries to create these multidisciplinary centres of excellence using European Development Fund (EDF) resources, as appropriate, in all sectors necessary for economic growth and sustainable development;

19.

Believes that EU Member States and developing countries should adopt pro-active skills replenishment initiatives by investing significant resources in education; reiterates its support for the ‘20/20’ objective: 20 % of public aid from the North and 20 % of the national budgets of the South allocated to basic social services (health and education);

20.

Calls on developing countries to invest the benefits of the oil boom in long-term strategies and programmes in education and training and to use that revenue in a transparent fashion;

21.

Urges ACP countries to develop the potential sources of economic wealth that they possess and to pay special attention to developing human resources and generating employment in all relevant sectors, in order to stimulate skilled workers to stay in, or return to, their countries of origin;

22.

Urges the European Commission to collaborate with the ACP Secretariat in order to identify economic support initiatives under the Cotonou Agreement which would enable countries of origin to improve their economic profile and cut the rate of illegal migration, thereby reducing the tension between partner states within the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA);

23.

Calls on the EU Member States to live up to their Lisbon targets, such as improving the quality of education and increasing female labour participation rates in order to increase the supply of skilled labour within the EU;

24.

Stresses the negative effects of brain waste for all actors involved, since host countries cannot benefit from the migrant's skills, countries of origin are confronted with a loss of investment and the migrant works below his/her skill level;

25.

Urges the European Commission, the EU Member States and ACP countries to take decisive measures to tackle brain waste, such as international or bilateral mutual recognition of diplomas and skills and explicit efforts to fight discrimination at the recruitment stage;

26.

Calls on the European Commission to lay down proposals as regards the establishment of a European system of equivalences for foreign diplomas;

27.

Recalls the fact that remittances are and should remain private funds, that no compulsory use of remittances can be imposed on individuals and that remittances can in no way substitute for Official Development Assistance (ODA);

28.

Calls on EU Member States and ACP countries to design and implement policies in order to maximise the positive impact of remittances by obtaining larger, faster, cheaper and better-channelled remittance flows, especially by cutting red tape and improving banking services for small transactions without over-regulating the market;

29.

In particular, calls on the European Commission, EU Member States and ACP countries to implement policies aiming at:

30.

Warns, however, against the risk of over-regulating financial flows, which could impede or make difficult the flow of remittances, and calls on the EU Member States and the European Parliament to take these concerns into consideration when examining the European Commission proposal for a directive on payment services in the internal market (21);

31.

Calls on the EU Member States and ACP countries to encourage circular migration by agreeing on tangible measures aimed at increasing flexibility of entry and readmission requirements and processes in both countries of destination and origin, longer and more flexible contracts and the option of re-entry for circular migrants;

32.

Calls on the EU Member States and ACP countries to encourage circular migration by setting up ‘dual post’ systems for public sector personnel in Southern countries (teachers, researchers and doctors); calls once again on the European Commission to conduct a study on experiences in the EU Member States with regard to ‘dual posts’;

33.

Believes that the directive on highly skilled workers now under preparation by the European Commission should pay due attention to the status of skilled migrants in order to provide them with an incentive for circular migration and/or temporary return;

34.

Calls on EU Member States and ACP countries to undertake necessary actions to ensure pension portability, the portability of health benefits by migrants returning to their countries and the possibility to come back for healthcare in the country where services had been provided;

35.

Calls on EU Member States and ACP countries to examine dual citizenship agreements in order to encourage circular migration and temporary return;

36.

Calls on the EU to offer potential returnees the possibility to opt to come back to the EU during a certain period following their initial return;

37.

Calls on the European Commission and the Member States to design specific initiatives, namely a specific budget line aimed at supporting voluntary return of migrants, in the framework of the thematic programme of cooperation with third countries in the areas of migration and asylum, with the following components:

38.

Recognises the importance of diasporas and associations of migrants in strengthening relations between the EU and countries of origin, particularly in the field of migration; calls for closer cooperation between institutions in developing countries and the Member States, including in the carrying-out of co-development projects;

39.

Takes the view that co-development, which consists in recognising and supporting the role of diasporas in serving the development of their countries of origin, should be fully recognised at European level;

40.

Calls on host countries and countries of origin to support, logistically and financially, the initiatives of diasporas and associations of migrants aimed at migrants' integration, collective transfer of remittances, investment projects in their countries of origin and the dissemination of information concerning acquired rights;

41.

Advises the governments of the countries of origin also to develop closer ties with migrants by setting up specific institutional platforms where various public actors work together;

42.

Recognises and encourages the strong involvement of diasporas in enhancing trade and economic cooperation between host countries and countries of origin, notably by removing information barriers;

43.

Encourages diasporas to engage in, and facilitate, skill and knowledge transfers, in particular by fostering the link between skilled workers living in OECD countries and those remaining in countries of origin, through the creation of transnational networks of scientists and researchers and of digital universities and the enhancement of e-learning, and welcomes the programmes managed by the International Organisation for Migrations (‘Migration for Development in Africa’) and by the UNDP (‘Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate Nationals’) in this area;

44.

Welcomes the creation of migration research centres in Africa in the framework of the intra-ACP Migration Facility as sources of reliable data and additional tools for better policy-making and migration management, in particular by ACP governments;

45.

Welcomes the announced establishment of migration information and management centres (22) to be founded under the EU Programme on Migration and Development for Africa with the objective of providing information and support to potential migrants and to returning migrants, and calls on EU Member States to support those centres financially and logistically;

46.

Recognises the substantial contribution of NGOs to improving the management of migration flows and, especially, to enhancing the contribution of migrants to the development of their own countries, and calls for adequate support to be provided to NGOs active in the field of migration;

47.

Stresses that the role of diasporas, migrants' associations and NGOs needs to be accompanied by a coherent and effective migration and development policy in the host countries and in the countries of origin;

48.

Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the European Commission and the AU.

—

meeting in Wiesbaden (Germany) from 25 to 28 June 2007,

—

having regard to the final report of 11 October 2006 drawn up by the Panel of Experts on the Sudan, appointed under United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1591,

—

having regard to the African Union (AU) decision of April 2004 to establish the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS),

—

having regard to the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) signed in Abuja (Nigeria) on 5 May 2006 between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the major rebel group the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M),

—

having regard to the Tripoli Consensus on the Political Process for Darfur, adopted in Tripoli on 28 and 29 April 2007,

—

having regard to the tripartite Agreement reached on 9 April 2007 in Addis Ababa between the GoS, the United Nations (UN) and the AU on the light support package and on the heavy support package,

—

having regard to Article 17(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.

whereas the UN ‘Responsibility to Protect’ doctrine provides that where national authorities manifestly fail to protect their populations, others have a responsibility to provide the protection needed,

B.

whereas China is a permanent member of the UNSC and a privileged commercial partner of Sudan; whereas on 10 May 2007 China appointed Liu Guijin Special Envoy for Darfur,

C.

whereas Sudan has signed the Rome Statute, which created the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002, but has not ratified it,

D.

whereas the performance of the AU forces in Darfur has been truly commendable; whereas, however, they need to be strengthened and given all the logistical and financial support that they need in order to fulfil their mandate effectively,

1.

Welcomes the acceptance by the GoS on 12 June 2007 of the AU/UN hybrid force; recalls that the GoS has made previous commitments to allow the hybrid force into Sudan; stresses, therefore, the importance of ensuring the swiftest possible deployment and continued cooperation of the Sudanese authorities and expects the GoS to disarm all militia, including the Janjaweed, and to stop the bombing of the Darfur region;

2.

Condemns any violation of the ceasefire agreements by any party, and in particular any violence directed towards the civilian population and the targeting of humanitarian assistance;

3.

Calls on the GoS to cooperate fully with the UN and to implement the relevant UN resolutions;

4.

Calls on the UN to act in line with the ‘Responsibility to Protect’, by ensuring that the future hybrid force has a full mandate to protect civilians under the UN Charter;

5.

Calls on the EU and other international actors to apply appropriate measures that target any perpetrators of violence that violate the ceasefire or attack civilians, peacekeepers or humanitarian operations and to take all necessary action to help end impunity;

6.

Calls on the EU and the AU to present a united front in efforts to resolve the conflict in Darfur and to prioritise a comprehensive peace process, which should include the consultation and representation of Darfur's tribes, communities of internally displaced persons (IDPs), women's groups and other civil society groups; calls on the international community to ensure that AU/UN mediation is the only route by which a peaceful Darfur settlement will be pursued and to promote a process of political dialogue in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) that brings in opposition groups;

7.

Calls on the international community to build consensus on the next strategic steps to be taken in Darfur, to include key actors such as China and the USA in every step, to create a contact group that is capable of continuously upholding and updating such a consensus, and to put pressure on all rebel movements and on the GoS to cease fire and initiate new peace negotiations;

8.

Calls for continued EU and international support for confidence-building measures, such as the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation, involving all parties to the conflict as well as civil society;

9.

Calls on the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) to help unify all Darfur rebel factions in order to enable them to take part in international negotiations; calls on the international community to bring pressure to bear on rebel groups to unify, and further calls on the GoS to allow the rebels time to regroup;

10.

Calls upon the international community, the AU and the UN to pursue a political process that begins by helping the remaining rebel groups to unify their ranks so they can negotiate coherently, broaden participation and strengthen the negotiating structure;

11.

Calls for the fullest possible cooperation between the CAR, Chad and the GoS through diplomatic and peaceful means for the sake of regional security in the interest of all;

12.

Welcomes the Tripoli Consensus on the Political Process for Darfur (2), which urges all parties to the conflict to ‘immediately cease hostilities and act upon their commitment to uphold a ceasefire without delay’, warns that ‘those who obstruct the peace process in Darfur will have to bear the consequences’, and stresses ‘the need for sustained funding for AMIS until transition to the hybrid operation’;

13.

Urges the GoS to ratify the statute of the ICC and to comply with its responsibilities under UNSC Resolution 1593; calls on the individuals that have been indicted by the ICC to surrender themselves;

14.

Recognises the contribution which China has endeavoured to make towards the deployment of the UN hybrid force; urges China to use its influence to build on these recent steps taken and to encourage the GoS to resume inclusive negotiations with all rebel forces in order to reach a peaceful settlement of the conflict;

15.

Calls further on all third parties to cease exporting arms to all parties to the conflict in the region and to uphold respect for human rights and international peace and security in their relations with Sudan;

16.

Considers the root causes of the conflict in Darfur to be underdevelopment and the economic and political marginalisation of the population of the region as well as the severe ecological problems linked to climate change, such as rapid desertification, widespread drought and increasing water shortages;

17.

Calls on the GoS and the international community not to spare any efforts to tackle the underdevelopment of the Darfur region including the enormous challenge of water shortages, to provide substantial humanitarian aid as well as aid aimed at strengthening the rule of law and the political and economic rights of the population;

18.

Calls on all parties involved in the conflict to refrain from the recruitment and use of child soldiers under the age of 18, and calls on the Sudanese authorities to protect displaced children, especially unaccompanied minors, as laid down in the relevant Conventions;

19.

Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the Commission, the Government and Parliament of Sudan, the UNSC and the Institutions of the AU.