Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 March 2004
38 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will provide an update on the progress of Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in highlighting the spread of HIV-AIDS and in presenting the EU with solutions to combat the problem; and if he raised the issue of crippling debt on third world countries during the Presidency. [10049/04]
View answerThe Government made the HIV-AIDS pandemic one of its priorities for our Presidency of the EU. The fight against HIV-AIDS is a major imperative of Ireland's development policy and we are using our Presidency to advance it. We want to see the disease mainstreamed into EC development policy.
Three key related events have been or will be hosted during our Presidency. On 23 and 24 February an interministerial conference on HIV-AIDS was held in Dublin. There were representatives from over 50 countries from the EU, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. We secured an agreement set out in the Dublin Declaration that will provide a basis for stronger regional co-operation across 55 countries to fight AIDS. A meeting between European and African parliamentarians on the challenges the disease presents to governance in Africa will be held in Dublin in April. In June the Government will host a meeting on the importance of investing further in the development of an effective vaccine against the disease.
The EU collectively increased funding to combat the spread of HIV-AIDS and accounts for 55% of all resources pledged to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria. We want to see the disease mainstreamed in EC development policy. We have chosen HIV-AIDS as a topic for the open discussion between Ministers and representatives of civil society at the ACP-EU Council of Ministers meeting in Gaborone in May.
The Government continues to use whatever opportunities that arise during its Presidency to promote our national debt strategy. While members states have agreed to contribute generously to debt relief from the EU budget, there is no common position on debt relief policy. It is the Government's view that there is no scope at present for securing a common EU position that would go beyond the current heavily indebted poor country initiative of the World Bank.
The Presidency has been engaged with the Commission in its study on the issue of debt relief for poor countries and the adequacy of the HIPC initiative. We are determined to continue to work closely with the Commission on this issue and to work with the Commission in giving practical effect to the conclusions of this study.
As part of that approach, we intend to keep HIPC debt at the top of our political agenda in discussions with our EU and developing country partners. During my address to the European Parliament's development committee I highlighted aspects of our policy on debt relief to the parliamentarians. On 15 and 16 February we discussed and reached significant agreement on the issue of debt relief during high level discussions with our African partners.
In April development Ministers will participate in the GAERC Council meeting. Again, we will consider debt relief in the context of the EU's commitments to financing development.
