Aid (EU)

HC Deb 03 February 1999 vol 324 cc914-7

2. Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West)

How much of the United Kingdom's international aid is disbursed on its behalf by the EU. [67503]

The Secretary of State for International Development (Clare Short)

We inherited from the previous Administration a commitment that 30 per cent. of my budget should be channelled through the European Commission and a situation in which EC aid spending is both skewed against the poorest countries and often of poor quality. In December, we published our strategy to improve that performance, and I shall happily send copies to the hon. Gentleman. We are actively seeking support for our strategy in the Commission and the European Parliament and among member states. I welcome the report of the Select Committee on International Development supporting the Government's strategy.

Mr. Swayne

What progress has the right hon. Lady made in addressing the concerns of charities that feel that the budget is skewed towards middle-income countries, leaving a relatively niggardly budget available for the poorest countries? What advantage is to be had from allowing our national priorities to be diluted by expenditure through the European Union?

Clare Short

The hon. Gentleman may wish to be aware that up until 1992, about 9 per cent. of my Department's budget went to the European Commission. The previous Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Major), then negotiated a big increase to 30 per cent. I inherited that position, and there is no use bewailing it. What I must do is try to make aid more effective and ensure that it is targeted much more on poor countries. We are working hard to draw the scandal of the current distribution to the attention of non-governmental organisations, the European Parliament, the different parts of the Commission and parliamentarians throughout Europe. I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman's support for our attempts to put right a matter on which the previous Administration should have made greater efforts.

Mr. Peter L. Pike (Burnley)

To what extent do our European counterparts share my right hon. Friend's view of the need to eliminate debt while also reducing poverty? How highly do they rank those priorities in comparison with her ranking of them?

Clare Short

The European Commission contributed to the World bank's heavily indebted poor countries debt fund, but it is not a big player in that it has no export credit debt to deal with. On the elimination of poverty, it was agreed during our presidency of the European Union that the international poverty eradication target should become the centrepiece of development efforts. That commitment has also been incorporated in the Lomé mandate for renegotiation. There is room for a lot of improvement. We have a commitment in principle, but there is a long way to go to implementation.

Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood)

Have not the strictures of the European Court of Auditors been particularly severe over the misapplication of the European Union aid budget? Would we not do a much better job by the British taxpayer if we had a purely national programme of aid that could be disbursed towards the hungry and the lean rather than the fat and fraudulent?

Clare Short

The hon. Gentleman is right that the ECA reports have been highly shocking, but the real problems are inefficiency and inability to disburse rather than simply fraud. There are 42 different financial systems at work in the area. That is a disgrace, but it was the previous Administration who made a binding commitment to have a high proportion of our budget spent in that way. I inherited that commitment from the Administration supported by the hon. Gentleman.

Mr. Wilkinson

indicated dissent.

Clare Short

The hon. Gentleman says that he did not support that commitment. That is interesting.

Finally, bilateral programmes are not always best. Countries cannot work in every needy country. We need our bilateral programmes in countries with which we have close historical associations and we need efficient multilateral programmes. I agree that there is a lot of room for improvement in the efficiency of the EC system.

Mr. David Winnick (Walsall, North)

Is it a condition of such aid that discrimination against Christian communities should be ended, particularly, for example, in the Indian sub-continent? That matter is causing a great deal of concern and I hope that representation is being made to the authorities concerned.

Clare Short

Absolutely; we all share my hon. Friend's concern about that. We all seek to promote proper respect for human rights in all the countries in which we work. We must be careful about any further step. It is not right to punish the poor of a country for misbehaviour by certain authorities. We cannot just say that we will withdraw aid from a country in which someone is abusing human rights. We must use our influence to have human rights respected. As I said, we share my hon. Friend's concern about attacks on Christians in India.

Mr. Gary Streeter (South-West Devon)

I congratulate the Secretary of State on what she is saying about the EU aid budget, but more interesting is what she is doing about it. Why did she not do more when she had the chair of the relevant Council during our EU presidency? Does she now regret that her close colleagues in the socialist group in the European Parliament voted against an opportunity to hold the responsible Commissioners to account? Were those not two golden opportunities to sort the matter out, and has she not missed both of them?

Clare Short

I am constantly astonished at the hon. Gentleman's complete ignorance after all this time and at his inability to look at the record of his Administration and the record of our presidency, and to read published documents and the Select Committee's report. The hon. Gentleman needs to do more work and to be more serious about his responsibility; then, between us, both sides of the House can do a better job.

Mr. Streeter

I am delighted that the right hon. Lady has met her vitriol quota for the week. The whole point of the EU is that it does not stand still. She has the opportunity in government to renegotiate the terms on which we contribute to the EU budget. Now that the financial settlement for the next seven years is up for renegotiation, is this not a golden opportunity for her to say that the United Kingdom will withdraw a sum equivalent to our contribution to the EU aid budget until the EU has shown itself capable of running the EU aid programme? Is it not time for the Secretary of State to be decisive? Is she not long on rhetoric and short on action?

Clare Short

I shall speak slowly and then the hon. Gentleman might learn something. The document I am holding sets out the British Government's policy. It spells out everything that is wrong and how it might be put right. The Select Committee on International Development, chaired in a distinguished way by a Conservative Member, has also just looked in great detail into the matter and made a series of recommendations. Those of us who are serious about this are working with other member states and all parts of the Commission and of the European Parliament to obtain change, having inherited a complete mess from the previous Conservative Administration, supported by the hon. Gentleman—who has the cheek to sit there heckling when he does not read and does not understand what he is talking about.

Mr. Bowen Wells (Hertford and Stortford)

I thank the Secretary of State for the reception that she has given the International Development Committee's report on the future of the EC development budget. What are the chances of having a single EU Commissioner in charge of overseas development, and of making the aid more efficient and delivering it to where it should go—the poorest of the poor in the third world?

Clare Short

As the hon. Gentleman knows, because he takes these matters seriously, we are at a time of great opportunity because we have to agree new funding proposals and the allocation between different countries. No one country can determine the outcome. We must engage intelligently with these questions and then build alliances between countries, parliamentarians, and so on. As the hon. Gentleman knows, I am working at that determinedly. I know that the Select Committee is, too, and that it is keen to work with development committees in other Parliaments. We also need to involve the NGO community. There is a real possibility of improvements; if we all work together, the chances of securing them—including, I hope, the appointment of a single Commissioner—are good.