Europe falls short on development aid[fr][de] 

"2007 was a serious failure for financial aid to development," wrote Development Commissioner Louis Michel in a letter together with his Luxembourg counterpart Jean-Louis Schiltz last week. 

The warning came ahead of today's (9 April) presentation of a new Commission Communication assessing member states' progress towards the UN Millennium Development goals, among the top priorities of which is the fight against global poverty and hunger. 

In order to achive this goal, the EU member states in 2005 pledged to allocate 0.7% of their Gross National Income to development asssitance by 2015, but a recent OECD report shows that only seven EU countries met or surpassed the 0.7% target in terms of national GDP, with Norway (0.95%) and Sweden (0.93%) topping the ranking. 

Following a drop in assistance of about 1.7 billion euros from 2006, aid reached only 0.38% of the bloc's GNI last year, meaning the EU missed its interim 0.41% target for 2007, and is far away from achieving the 0.51% target set for 2010, the report reveals. 

Michel and Schiltz said that last year's cut in Europe was unacceptable. "These 1.7 billion (euros) could have contributed to changing people's lives," they wrote in the letter, pointing out that the amount could have financed 4,500 schools or 1,200 hospitals. 

"It is time for Europeans and other major donors to act," Michel and Schiltz added. 

UK Development Minister Gareth Thomas admitted that "a number of countries are off-track". 

Speaking to EurActiv in an interview, he said: "We are obviously talking to these countries about how they can get back on track. This is going to be critical going forward to 2015 if we are going to achieve the Millenium Development Goals."

Speaking on behalf of this country, Thomas stressed that the UK wants to achieve the 0.7% target by 2013, two years ahead of the agreed date, although the latest OECD figures show that UK aid decreased by 2% last year, spending only 0.36% of its GNI on aid. 

Humanitarian NGO Oxfam's Jeremy Hobbs heavily criticised EU member states for not fulfilling their commitments: "They show a clear lack of leadership on bringing much needed funding to poor countries." 

"It is disappointing that France which will take the presidency of the EU in June is amongst the worst offenders, with a minimal increase at best," Hobbs pointed out. 

Europe is the biggest donor in the world, accounting for around 90% of worldwide aid and 90% of the increase in aid to Africa. 

In today's Communication, the Commission is expected to propose that every member state put forward a multi-annual plan, indicating the aid increases planned per year. It is also to evaluate the efficacy of the EU's official aid and trade assistance policies.

To read the full interview with UK Development Minister Gareth Thomas, please click here.