WRITTEN QUESTION E-2865/97 by Thomas Megahy (PSE) to the Council (13 September 1997)

Subject: Aid to developing countries

Following findings by UNICEF that aid from industrialized nations to developing countries has fallen to an all time low, will the Council consider reaching an agreement to increase such aid from the Member States whilst at the same time reviewing its effectiveness and encouraging mutually beneficial trade?

Answer (26 November 1997)

The Honourable Member's attention is drawn first of all to the fact that aid from Member States of the European Union for developing countries is entirely a matter within their own competence.

The most recent figures supplied by the OECD concerning development aid from the industralized countries meeting within the Development Aid Committee (DAC), which relate to 1995, show that contributions by the Member States of the European Union amounted to 26 910 billion dollars, exceeding by a large margin the contributions of other major donors such as the United States (7.4 billion dollars) and Japan (14.5 billion dollars). Adding the share of development aid financed by the European Community and the EDF, this aid amounts to 31 411 billion dollars, which represents 53.5% of the development aid given by all the industralized countries. Furthermore, since 1990 combined aid from the Member States and the Community has risen both in absolute figures (from 25 to 31 411 billion dollars) and in percentage terms (from under 50% to 53.5%].

With regard to the European Community's policy objectives in the field of development cooperation, Article 130u of the Treaty on European Union lays down as objectives the campaign against poverty, the sustainable economic and social development of the developing countries and the integration of those countries into the world economy.

Concerning the effectiveness of Community aid, it should be noted that, further to the (Development) Council's statement of 25 November 1994 and in accordance with the detailed arrangements it set out on 1 June 1995, a full, in-depth evaluation exercise is currently taking place of the programmes and instruments of Community aid, aimed at making an assessment of results in the light of its objectives and at drawing lessions from past experience. The first phase ("desk phase¨) of the evaluations of the ALA and MED programmes and of cooperation with the ACP countries has been completed, and the second phase, consisting of on-the-ground missions, has begun. The overall summary report covering the whole exercise will be drawn up by the Commission and is expected for the second half of 1998.