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Treaty of Lisbon (No. 6)

Those countries do not need a treaty in order to fulfil what they promised to poor countries in front of the world's media. We are concerned that the Lisbon treaty removes the reference to ““the most disadvantaged”” developing countries as a focus of the EU development co-operation policy. It is right that the EU should, to some extent, play to its comparative advantage of assistance to near-Europe countries. They are, after all, the most proximate markets for the European Union, and we have a strong interest in their growth and development. However, we must ensure that the focus is on reducing poverty. The Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Thomas), will know that I am a keen student of his speeches. One of my personal favourites is his speech entitled ““Multilateral aid and the European Union's contribution to meeting the Millennium Development Goals””, which he will remember he delivered on 24 February 2005, and in which he said:"““EC aid is still not sufficiently focused on meeting the millennium development goals…Europe spends nearly $100 in aid for every poor person living in the Mediterranean—and less than $1 for every poor person in Asia, which is, alongside Africa, the key 'battleground' for the achievement of the millennium development goals. Why is a child in Egypt worth 100 times more than a child in Bangladesh?””" That is a well-made point with which Conservative Members have much sympathy. The OECD is in agreement, saying that"““the Commission should look for opportunities to increase assistance to low income countries.””" I hope that the Minister will continue to fight to ensure that the European Union focuses its aid on the people who really need it. I know from his words that he will want to support our amendment, as it seeks to retain the reference to ““the most disadvantaged”” as a target for European aid. A fourth key concern about the treaty is that development may be relegated to second-tier status within the EU's external action framework—a point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury. I know that that is a concern echoed by many officials in DFID. DFID's multilateral development effectiveness summary of 2007 noted that"““Community aid...sits in the middle of the Union's wider external policy aims, with sometimes competing agendas””." Furthermore, the respected OECD development assistance committee has found a risk that the ambitious multiple objectives of the consensus, including expanded political ones, could diffuse a focus on development and undermine longer term strategic priorities. Members will note that we have tabled amendments on that point. It is surely inconceivable that Ministers will not support them, especially when the Government were, not so long ago, so very keen to ensure that the specific identity of development objectives was not undermined in the EU's external action. We want to ensure that development retains a strong profile within the EU's external action programme. We are strongly supportive of an independent DFID. Why, then, do the Government support a treaty that seeks to move Europe the other way, subsuming development within the common external action programme? There is also an important point about leadership. Many observers are concerned that a reduction in the number of commissioners could mean that there would be no commissioner for development. BOND has made it clear that having a separate commissioner for development is highly important, particularly in closing the gap between EU development policy and its implementation. BOND has said:"““We must ensure that there is a strong and independent voice for development.””" However, the principle of independence is missing from the treaty's section on humanitarian aid. Fifthly, the Minister will note that we have tabled an amendment addressing the question of shared competency over matters of international development. We seek clarification from the Secretary of State on what that will mean. We hope that he will be able to reassure us that there is no danger of the EU's overruling Britain's decisions on aid policy. More generally, the treaty fails to address the many things that must be done to reform and improve the delivery of European Union aid. Such aid has been criticised for involving heavy bureaucracy and slow disbursal. In its oral evidence to the July 2006 House of Lords report on EU-Africa relations, BOND castigated the EU's record of"““slow disbursement of funds, bureaucratic procedures and lack of capacity””," which all"““continue to hinder the effectiveness of European Community aid””." A report by DFID suggested that delays were due to"““the inner workings of a byzantine bureaucracy with a procedure-driven ethos.””" Ironically, a study by the Commission found that 40 per cent. of delays to aid projects were the result of the administrative processes of the European Union, while only 25 per cent. were due to administrative problems in the developing countries receiving aid. A survey of aid recipient countries by Oxfam suggests that a fifth of EU aid arrives more than a year late, compared with just 3 per cent. of that from other aid donors. The highly respected think-tank Open Europe has highlighted that one particularly wasteful administrative activity is the EU's funding of other multilateral institutions, particularly the World Bank's International Development Association. Over the past four years, the EU has passed on $2.1 billion of its budget to other multilateral organisations. That means a wasteful chain of transfers: national agencies administer a transfer to the EU, which then administers a transfer to another multilateral organisation, which then eventually administers aid to the recipient country, with administrative costs and delay at each stage. There are also serious concerns about fraud and waste in the European aid programme. Open Europe explains that just over 7 per cent. of the EU budget is spent on overseas aid, while aid programmes account for 21 per cent. of fraud investigations by OLAF, the European anti-fraud office. Fraud in this area is far higher than the Brussels average. Despite attempts at reform, serious cases of fraud and waste are still coming to light. For example, in 2006, a report by the EU's Court of Auditors found that aid for Russia had been misspent. It noted that one project had involved inventing a region on paper to meet the criteria for receiving EU funds, and fitness equipment that was supposed to help children ended up being used by Russian soldiers. I have read with great interest the multilateral development effectiveness summaries that have been posted recently on the DFID website. There is a lack of clarity about exactly how DFID assesses which multilateral agencies do the best job of tackling poverty. What we really need is much stronger impact evaluation of global aid so that we can make informed decisions about which channels will spend our aid most effectively. The treaty calls for coherence in EU policies that affect poor countries. At the moment, there is manifestly a lack of coherence. There is a clear need to take action on that. In particular, the treaty fails to underline the importance of development assistance in tackling physical and psychological barriers to trade in poor countries. That is one of the most important aspects of all development. If our aid money is not to be wasted, poor countries must ultimately be able to trade their way out of poverty. Aid is a means to an end and not an end in itself.