Agenda for change causes concern about development

There are development questions that need answering.

The 14 May meeting of development ministers that you previewed last week (“Ministers to discuss funding for Afghanistan”, 10-16 May) gave its blessing to the ‘agenda for change’ outlined six months ago by Andris Piebalgs, the European commissioner for development. 

The EU’s development policy is hugely important to efforts to tackle poverty, both financially (it amounts to €53 billion annually) and politically. Unfortunately, the ‘agenda for change’ gives plenty of reason for concern.

In future, fewer of the world’s poorest living in middle income countries will receive EU aid. Nobody wants aid to last forever. But the extent of the proposed cuts to countries such as Peru is a mistake. Massive inequalities persist in the South American nation, with one in three people still living below the poverty line despite high national economic growth.

At the same time, the European Commission plans to give the private sector access to European aid funds.

Will it be local firms in developing countries or foreign multinationals that get access to funds? Six months since Piebalgs first proposed his agenda, he has given too few details to allow an answer.

Klavdija Cerniolgar

Concord – European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development

Brussels