Arthur Morgan
Ceist:88 Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the EU Foreign Ministers have agreed a timeframe and increments by which all EU members states will reach the UN target of 0.7% GNP to ODA. [14609/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 19 May 2004
Ceisteanna (97)
Freagraí scríofa
At the Barcelona European Council in March 2002, those EU member states — which have not yet reached the UN ODA expenditure target of 0.7% of GNP — committed themselves individually to increasing their ODA volume within their respective budget allocation processes. Those member states at or above the target, namely, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden, agreed to renew their efforts to maintain this position so that collectively a European Union average of 0.39% is reached by 2006. Member states which have not reached the current EU average of 0.33% agreed to strive to reach at least this figure by 2006. This EU commitment was confirmed at the international conference on financing for development at Monterey in Mexico later in March 2002.
On 27 April last the Council, under the Irish Presidency, held a policy debate on the EU's follow up to the commitments made at the Monterey conference. The discussion was based on a Commission report of a Monterey monitoring exercise it has been charged to conduct; at Ireland's initiative, this was a public debate. The Council noted that the Union is on track to exceed its commitment to achieve the collective target for increasing the volume of ODA by 2006 and agreed on the need for sustained effort to ensure that this commitment is met.
Furthermore, the Council welcomed the provision by a number of member states of national timetables for the attainment of the UN target of 0.7% ODA/GNI and encouraged all member states, which have not yet done so, to set a timeframe for the achievement of the UN target. The Council underlined the importance of increasing ODA volumes in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals and the need to make a substantive contribution to the UN's 2005 MDG review.
The monitoring exercise undertaken by the Commission, on foot of the Barcelona commitments, is clearly playing an important role in encouraging member states to increase their ODA levels towards the UN 0.7% target. Ireland will continue to support the close monitoring of the EU's Monterey commitments throughout the remainder of our Presidency and beyond.