Sixty percent of all the world’s development aid comes from Europe. That is something one will always hear when you hang around the EU corridors here in Brussels.
In charge of this colossal sum is the European Commission (the executive power of the European Union). And in charge of this dossier at the European Commission will be (if approved by the European Parliament), Andris Piebalgs. Who this man is and what he represents will have an impact on the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
Piebalgs, originally from Latvia, took a three-hour grilling from the European Parliament tonight as he tried to convince them that he is right for the job as European Commissioner for Development. The man, who fielded questions in numerous languages, speaks five himself and responded in kind.
The European Union has been accused of setting aside its values when it comes to pushing for free trade agreements in some of the more unsavory regions of the world. At the same time, the EU does raise the red flag.
Last December, the former EU Commissioner for Development was denied entry into the Democratic Republic of Congo because of a statement he made about corruption. This presented a host of challenges, not least of which is that the DRC* is one of the top recipients of EU aide.
“There is no point in giving aid and then seeing the recipient government selling off its natural resources for decades to come,” said Piebalgs, adding that the people of the country should benefit from the profits; not just external corporations and insider politicians. The EU currently gives China a sum of money to help alleviate poverty in the country that now ranks number one in export commodities.
But at heart of Piebalgs message was that the EU would continue to be the leader in development aid to eradicate poverty and promote democracy. This, specifically, means taking advantage of the newly formed European External Action Service…a kind of EU diplomatic corps whose role is still being defined.
Piebalgs said Europe must act on its promises to deliver 0.7 of its GDP for development assistance by 2015. Some of the Parliament’s ministers questioned whether or not EU member states could deliver on the promise given the economic downturn. To which Piebalgs responded with an emphatic yes.
Europe has a number of agreements and pacts that are supposed to prevent aid from falling into the wrong hands (articles 8 and 96 of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement; Lisbon Treaty article 208). It is also supposed to suspend aid if human rights violations occur. But herein lies the problem.
On the one hand, according to Piebalgs, the EU will not negotiate its principals on human rights. As a case in point, he mentioned the recent wave of homophobia in Uganda. Discrimination on such grounds will undermine EU aid development initiatives in the country he said. “You can’t negotiate this principal because you’ll lose your dignity. You can’t go beyond your beliefs,” he said to a round of applause.
But on the other hand, Piebalgs, will continue to provide development aid to the likes of Eritrea; a kleptocracy that violates human rights on a massive scale. “There is no conditionality [on development aid] on Eritrea,” were his words. Reporters without Borders currently ranks Eritrea as having the world’s worst press freedoms. It now ranks below North Korea.
*Check out this excellent photo reportage in the New York Times.
