SPEECH/09/177
José Manuel
Durão Barroso
President of the European Commission
"Supporting developing countries in coping with the
crisis"
Joint press conference with Commissioner Louis Michel Brussels, 8
April 2009
I'm very pleased to be with you today - along with my dear friend and
colleague Louis Michel – to present Europe's strategy to help developing
countries cope with the impacts of the current financial crisis.
Just as we are shaping the global recovery for the developed countries, today
we are presenting some ideas to shape the recovery for developing countries -
less than a week after the G20.
The Commission will press for the implementation of the development ideas we
have been pushing, including at the London summit.
At the summit, there were important commitments. Not only the reaffirmation
of the commitment to the Millennium Development Goals but also in terms of aid
for trade, trade finance, special drawing rights for the IMF. Now we have to be
sure all those decisions will be effectively implemented.
Our developing country partners are the least responsible for this crisis but
among the worst affected. So we have to face this.
As I have said on numerous occasions, our growth and stability are completely
linked to theirs and vice versa.
Offering our assistance is not only the right thing to do – it makes
good economic sense, too.
Our promise to help developing countries integrate into the global economy so
they can enjoy greater prosperity is a cornerstone of our founding values and
will prove a foundation for global recovery.
This must be a green recovery, with a transition to a low carbon economy. The
development and climate agendas must be mutually supportive.
I said it before the G20, I said it at the G20 meeting and I now say it
again: the recession must not, cannot, and will not be used as an excuse for
going back on our promises on aid.
It is true to say that EU aid levels were up last year. € 49 billion in
2008.
But this is no reason for complacency - our figures for 2009 and 2010 will
decide whether Europe meets its target for Official Development Assistance (ODA)
of 0.56% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2010.
But development aid, whilst crucial, will not be enough on its own to help
developing countries overcome this crisis.
First, we need to be ready to front-load our assistance. We must provide aid
more quickly. And that is precisely one of the main points of our Communication
today. We are using the same concept of advancing funds that we have used for
European Union Structural Funds. But this time we are frontloading aid to the
developing countries. It is important for them but it is also important for the
global recovery.
Second, we need to provide aid more effectively and efficiently. We need to
make sure every euro counts. Just from greater efficiency alone among all 27
Member states, we know that we can gain approximately €7 billion per
year.
And we also need to recall what the G20 decided in the interests of
developing and emerging countries, and we must implement those decisions
speedily. For example, we established at the G20 immediate IMF financing worth
$250 billion (of which $100 billion comes from European Member States), to be
incorporated into an expanded and more flexible "arrangement to borrow" worth
$500 billion, and in addition it was agreed to establish a further $250 billion
Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation.
Let me once again thank Louis Michel for his energy and for his commitment to
this very important programme.
I would like also to highlight one more point. Something good, something
positive can come from this crisis. It is the realisation across the globe, at
every level, that any concept of "us" and "them" is outdated. It is just
us. All of us, together.
So, we cannot stand aside, we cannot let the real progress made towards
lifting millions out of poverty simply be lost. Rather, we must stand
side-by-side with our developing country partners and face this crisis together.
In the light of last week's G20 meeting, I am proud that Europe is the first
to act.
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