§ James PurnellTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to increase the effectiveness of the targeting at poverty reduction of EU development assistance. [104573]
§ Clare ShortIn 2003–04 I expect my Department to spend over £1 billion on EC development assistance, which, with some exceptions, under performs both in effectiveness and targeting on poverty reduction. The Commission spent only 43 per cent. of its official development assistance in 2001 in low-income countries and although an improvement from 38 per cent. in the previous year. The Government's aim is to ensure the Commission seeks to spend 70 per cent. of the development budget in low-income countries by 2006.
We have been working since 1997 to improve the effectiveness and poverty focus of EC development assistance. We welcome the positive steps that were taken by the Commission to reform the management of external assistance and are pressing the EC to continue and deepen the reforms. Prioritisation needs radical overhaul. Allocation decisions too often reflect the political consensus by the Council of Ministers and European Parliament to maintain spending at historical levels in middle-income regions, which reflect domestic or foreign policy considerations. We want to see the pledge, explicit in the EC's Development Policy Statement of November 2000, to focus on poverty reduction reflected in annual decisions over resource transfers.
We will continue to push for basing allocations on developmental needs of the poorest countries through all the channels available to us including the annual budget negotiations, the revision of the Asia and Latin America Regulation, the mid-term review of MEDA and the country strategy paper process which determines individual allocations. We have had some initial success eg in 2002 securing additional €100 million from the EC's External Actions Budget for Asia and a commitment of €1 billion for the rehabilitation of Afghanistan.
In the longer term the discussions of the Convention debate on the Future of Europe and forthcoming debates on the EU budget ceilings for the period 2007–13 offer opportunities to reinforce the poverty efforts of the EC's external actions. I believe the EC should focus efforts on where they will be effective and can add value in their impact on economic growth and poverty reduction. Otherwise the EC should cut back its activities.