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 Meeting at the informal Bordeaux Council on 29-30 September, EU development ministers have agreed to the Commission's proposal for a €1 billion emergency food facility to tackle the food crisis in developing countries, and that the fund should be mobilised immediately.
According to the press statement of the meeting's conclusions, the ministers "recognise the need to take action now, so that those vulnerable are given immediate support, so that the next years' harvests are not lost and so that there are sustainable improvements in agricultural productivity in future years, indispensable for facing increases in populations and consumption." However, how much of the €1 billion will be drawn from unused common agricultural policy (CAP) funds, as the Commission proposed, was a cause of division between member states, with Poland and the Czech Republic in particular expressing misgivings. The press statement also urged that a "long term concerted strategy" be defined, "to tackle the root causes of the crisis, relaunch sustainable food and small scale farming, support private sector development and investment, improve critical conditions in agricultural production, and to help developing countries be less vulnerable to volatile food prices and food shortages." Ministers also discussed the upcoming international Doha conference on development financing to be held in from 29 November to 2 December, and agreed on the need for a common and concerted EU position at the negotiations, which urges the renewal of the aid commitments made in Monterrey in 2002. European development NGOs CONCORD and Coordination South, who were invited to participate in the debate, called attention to the need to tackle capital leakage from developing countries to European tax havens, which are estimated to amount to €300 billion annually. Sources |
