The EU and the developing world

Klaus Vella Bardon (November 15) tries to paint a very bleak picture of the EU's commitment to the developing world. It is a pity as facts do indeed show otherwise.

The EU is the world's biggest donor of aid with 56 per cent of total Official Development Aid (ODA) coming from the European Union and its member states. This aid will continue to increase with the historical commitment made last June by the European Council to further increase this ODA. Europe shows its leadership in this area not simply by being the largest donor but also by showing political leadership and it was thanks to the commitment of the European Union that the UN summit in September was a success.

I certainly agree with Dr Vella Bardon on one point: charity is not an option if we want to make poverty history.

The new development policy that the European Commission promotes gets rid of paternalism, moralisation and neo-colonialism and is based on political dialogue. One basic element is promoting ownership of development by its beneficiaries. Take, for instance, the EU Africa Strategy proposed by the European Commission, which should be endorsed by the next European Council this month. It was drafted in close consultation with African organisations and will be implemented through them.

This strategy is about transport, energy and telecoms networks, it's about promoting South-South trade and regional markets, about peace and security, and, in general, building stronger states and regional organisations to face the challenges of globalisation.

Even on trade, the EU will take no lessons from anyone on market access for the developing world. The EU is already the most open market in the world for agricultural exports from the developing world. Through its Everything But Arms system, the EU provides tariff and quota free access to all agricultural imports from the 50 least developed countries. The EU absorbs more agricultural imports from the least developed countries than the rest of the developed world combined. The EU takes 70 per cent of agricultural exports from the LDCs. Almost all agricultural imports from the 80 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries enter the EU duty free or at reduced rates of duty. The EU has consistently called on the US, Canada and Japan to provide an equivalent to the quota and tariff free access provided by the EU's Everything But Arms system.

Europe is also offering to add more, through deep tariff cuts and a reduction and adaptation of the use of sensitive products to protect some EU farm sectors - and in agreeing to do this Europe is also forcing other developed countries to do the same. (The EU is offering to cut the number of sensitive products it designates to eight per cent; sensitive products will not be exempt from tariff cuts, they will also be subject to reduced cuts. Moreover, the EU has offered to increase tariff rate quotas for all products classified as sensitive.)

Finally, Europe is also committed to ensuring that the Doha Round produces new market access in trade in industrial goods - where developing countries do 75 per cent of their trade.

Dr Drake is head of Representation of the European Commission in Malta.