EUROPE: 'AID DEVELOPMENT, NOT WAR ON TERRORISM'
Jaya Ramachandran
BRUSSELS - A network of European non-governmental organisations has criticised the European Union's plans to use development aid to finance anti-terrorist activities.
The 27-nation bloc's intention not to shy away from deploying official development assistance (ODA) to counter terrorism is reflected in a new series of 33 country strategy papers, according to Eurostep based in Brussels.
Eurostep -- a network of 16 European non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in some 100 countries worldwide on development issues -- has scrutinized the strategy papers drafted by EU's executive arm, the European Commission.
The documents contain several provisions on funding objectives with a security dimension, says Eurostep. But such funding does not meet the eligibility criteria for ODA set by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
Diverting ODA to back anti-terrorist activities would also run counter to the 'make poverty history' agenda to which EU policy-makers pledged support during 2005, the NGOs network says in a briefing note.
"That agenda made clear that EU aid must be used for purposes with the aim of improving the conditions of the world’s poorest people and not be diverted to projects designed to further Europe’s own economic or strategic interests," says the note.
Eurostep director Simon Stocker said the paper on Malaysia was "especially troubling", as it recommends that terrorism and migration issues should be financed as part of a trade and investment package.
A related 'national indicative programme' says that all of the 8 million euro worth of EU aid allocated to Malaysia in 2007-10 should go for trade and investment. But it does not state what proportion of this would be used to fight terrorism or managing migration.
"Using development aid as part of the war on terrorism is completely unacceptable in the first instance," Stocker said. "What’s even worse is that the Commission is prepared to advocate this misappropriation and then not give any details on how it plans to use the money," he added.
The strategy papers for Colombia, Pakistan and Indonesia also contain references to financing anti-terrorism measures. In a letter sent this week to the Commission and the 27 EU member governments, Eurostep argued that greater clarity on the nature and purposes of these measures must be provided.
The European Parliament has previously decided to take legal action against such a diversion of EU aid. In 2005, it referred to the European Court of Justice a decision by EU governments and the Commission to use 5 million euro aid to the Philippines for a project designed to help the Manila authorities comply with a UN Security Council resolution responding to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Legal experts advising Euro-parliamentarians (MEPs) said it was "beyond doubt" that anti-terrorism activities "cannot be considered to fall within the scope" of the regulation covering EU aid to Asia and Latin America.
The country strategy papers will be discussed at a meeting of EU diplomats next Monday (Jan. 29).
Eurostep has identified several other shortcomings in the papers, which it believes must be remedied before they are approved by governments or MEPs.
The shortcomings include:
- Several papers -- on Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam -- do not include any figures on how much aid should be earmarked for different sectors.
- The papers frequently fail to show how aid will fulfil criteria on official development assistance, even though the provision of such information is mandatory under the EU’s new development cooperation instrument.
- The paper on Cambodia states that HIV/AIDS threatens to undermine the country’s development efforts but the related national indicative programme lacks any strategy for addressing the issue.
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