BRUSSELS: The European Commission unveiled Wednesday an action plan to help combat a worrying drop in EU aid to developing countries and urged member nations to live up to their pledges.
With food prices rising, sparking protests in countries like Haiti and Egypt, the EU s executive body lamented that aid levels provided by the world s biggest donor had dropped last year for the first time since 2000.
Today, we have to say it clearly, we have a problem, a serious problem, commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters in Brussels. The aid figures of our member states show some worrying, even dangerous tendencies.
We cannot meet our goals without the money, he said.
Following a substantial increase in 2006, EU aid figures for 2007 decreased to ?46.1 billion ($72.4 billion) from ?47.7 billion the previous year.
The drop defies a pledge by EU leaders in 2005 to increase aid levels collectively and individually in all 27 member nations.
The commission urged them to draw up a multi-annual plan showing how they would meet aid targets they have committed to, and improve the way they distribute and manage development funds.
A key problem is coordinating the way nations allocate aid.
Donors are often interested by the same sector or the same country, Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said. This means that at some stage, some countries are going to be aid orphans.
Brussels said special care was needed to ensure that other policies were not undermining aid efforts, such as the EU s attempts to fight climate change by increasing the use of biofuels, which could lift food prices. -AFP
