European Fund For Development (Hansard, 25 April 1994)

§ 32. Mr. Wells
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress he is making in making the European Fund for Development more effective.

§ Mr. Hurd
We are working with the European Commission to improve the effectiveness of EC development expenditure, with some success so far. In the mid-term review of Lomé IV, we are seeking changes that will also improve effectiveness, notably by directing funds more to those countries that can make best use of them.

§ Mr. Wells
Is not it true that the bank is now paying more in overheads than it is disbursing? My right hon. Friend made vigorous representations at the bank board's recent meeting against that practice. When does he expect delivery of the European development fund programmes to exceed expenditure on overheads?

§ Mr. Hurd
I think that my hon. Friend and I are on slightly different tracks. I am answering a question about the European fund for development. I think that my hon. Friend is asking me about the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. I shall have to answer his question on the running costs of the EBRD at greater leisure.

§ Madam Speaker
I call Mr. Enright. Can he get it right? The question concerns the European fund for development.

§ Mr. Enright
On the European development fund, does the Foreign Secretary agree that it is a very good instrument for converting emergency aid into long-term aid? I think especially of Mozambique. The moment that it gets off the front pages, people stop considering long-term needs. The EDF is well geared to satisfy those needs. I hope that the Government are working along those lines.

§ Mr. Hurd
It is certainly true that the EDF shares many of the objectives of our bilateral aid programme. I am very struck by the increase in our commitment to the EDF; it was more than £440 million in 1992–93. It is a very large part of our multilateral aid which, as the hon. Gentleman knows, is growing as a proportion of the total. We need to be sure—surer than I am at the moment—that the priorities and effectiveness of the EDF are as great as those in our bilateral aid programme. That is why the mid-term review of Lomé IV is so important.