European Election 2009: Make Europe work for developing countries

With the approaching of the European Election 2009 that will take place in Ireland on 5^th June 2009, Dóchas, the Irish Association of Non-Governmental Development Organizations, launched a Manifesto on the slogan: Make Europe work for developing countries. Members of Dóchas, the Irish Association of Non-Governmental Development Organizations, and their 850,000 supporters are a passionate and committed constituency which recognises the crucial role Irish Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) can play in ensuring that the EU keeps development cooperation and humanitarian aid at its heart.

The Manifesto produced by the Association, therefore, urges Irish MEPs to use their power for the benefit of the world’s poor, marginalised and vulnerable by taking some of the following actions:

– Urge Europe to get to grips with the world’s hunger crisis

– Make sure the EU is a global leader in tackling climate change

– Push for European progress on trade justice

– Hold the EU to its promises on aid quantity and quality

– Bring creative thinking to financing for development

– Focus on rights and human security

– Protect independent, impartial humanitarian action

– Get the EU institutions and structures working for development

– Tackle wider European actions undermining the world’s poor.

Also, to make the Irish constituency aware of the importance of the European Parliament (EP) institution, Dóchas highlights that the EP is the only EU institution directly elected by citizens and is therefore a key element in ensuring that European policy reflects people’s concerns, as well as providing democratic oversight and control on the exercise of power. Moreover, the European Parliament has a crucial role to play in galvanising the European Union’s commitment to development: together with the Council of the European Union, the Parliament decides on budgets and scrutinises aid programmes. The European Parliament ratifies all European agreements on trade and has the power to raise issues with the European Commission.

Members of the European Parliament, in particular, have an important role to play in shaping EU development policy. They sit on parliamentary committees within the European Parliament. The decisions made by several of these committees – such as those on Agriculture, Budgets, Development Cooperation, Environment, Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Trade and Women’s Rights – greatly influence EU development policy. The European Union is a key global player as it provides over half of all development aid. It has significant political and economic weight in decisions that affect the world’s entire population, including the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Built on the principles of peace, solidarity and respect for human rights, the EU is the largest multilateral donor of aid and an important trading partner for developing countries.

 

Source:

www.dochas.ie