Newsletter – n°18 – January 2013

Headlines

“Cutting the development aid budget would only weaken the poorest populations”. This is the message that the MEPs of the Development Committee, of all political groups, wanted to send prior to the summit of chiefs of state and government on 7^th February. In a joint letter, they underline that the European Union is recognised by the OECD and by civil society organisations as one of the most efficient and transparent donors in the world, and that little investment (aid expenses only cost 0.50 euro per week and per European citizen) has so much impact. 

In an interview on the subject for Euractiv.com, Eva Joly, President of the Development Committee reminded that, in a recent eurobarometer survey, 85% of Europeans declared themselves in favour of the EU maintaining its development aid programmes despite the crisis.

This call was unfortunately not heard by the 27 Member States, which decided to set the limit for external aid expenses at 58 billion (not including the European Development Fund), a lot less than the 70 billion initially proposed by the European Commission. This cut represents 13% of the budget allocated to external aid, while the EU budget was cut by 7.5% on average.