Documents considered by the Committee on 18 March 2015 - European Scrutiny Contents


12 The EU and the post-2015 development agenda

Committee's assessment Politically important
Committee's decisionNot cleared from scrutiny; further information requested; drawn to the attention of the International Development Committee
Document detailsCommission Communication: A Global Partnership for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development after 2015
Legal base
Departments

Document numbers

International Development; Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Energy and Climate Change

(36644), 5902/15 + ADD 1, COM(15) 44

Summary and Committee's conclusions

12.1 This Commission Communication is the latest stage in a process that began with Commission Communication 7075/13 — "A decent life for all: ending poverty and giving the world a sustainable future". That earlier Commission brought together the debate about what international framework should succeed the MDGs[23] and the process to establish new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) arising from the Rio+20 — where government leaders agreed that the new SDGs should be coherent and integrated with the post-2015 development agenda.[24]

12.2 Commission Communication 12434/13 on the Commission's perspectives on financing the post-2015 development framework is also relevant.[25]

12.3 Both Communications were examined in a European Committee debate on 11 December 2013.[26] And Commission Communication 7075/13 was also recently debated, in European Committee B, on 11 March 2015 (see paragraphs 12.17-12.32 below for details).

12.4 This further Commission Communication, A Global Partnership for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development after 2015, sets out the European Commission's views on the delivery of a new global partnership for poverty eradication and sustainable development after 2015. SDGs for post 2015 will be agreed at the UN in September 2015. The global partnership will provide the "Means of Implementation" for the post 2015 agenda. The Communication sets out the Commission's view on the principles that should underpin the partnership and the components needed to implement the post-2015 agenda. It also puts forward specific proposals on possible contributions by the EU and its Members States.

12.5 It proposes the following eight key components of the global partnership:

—  an enabling policy environment at all levels;

—  capacity development;

—  mobilisation of domestic public finance;

—  mobilisation of international public finance;

—  stimulation of trade;

—  change through science and technology;

—  mobilising the domestic and private sector;

—  ensuring mechanisms for monitoring, accountability and review.

12.6 The Communication will form the basis for agreeing an EU position in advance of the UN Financing for Development Conference in July and the "Post-2015" Summit at the UN in September. The Communication strongly supports the UN Secretary General's call that all developed countries meet the UN target of 0.7% ODA/GNI and agree to concrete timetables for doing so.

12.7 The Ministers at the Department for International Development (Baroness Northover), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dan Rogerson) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Amber Rudd) note that agreeing an EU recommitment to 0.7% ODA/GNI is a top UK objective, and say that they will make "all efforts to ensure that this includes a renewed timetable and target dates for countries that have not yet met their commitments".

12.8 The Ministers go on also to note that, though based on recent discussions within the EU, Member States were not formally consulted on the text during its preparation and it is "not an articulation of agreed EU policy". The Communication will, however, "set the tone for this year's Council Conclusions on EU post-2015 development financing which will be negotiated by Council working groups", and the Council "will choose how to respond to the views expressed by the Commission in the Communication". The UK's input to this response will reflect cross-HMG views and will be in line with the position set out below; they "will remain closely engaged with the EU Presidency and other Member States as work proceeds on drafting the Council Conclusions this spring".

12.9 The Ministers describe the Commission as a good overview of what is needed for effective implementation of the post-2015 development agenda and for laying the groundwork for more specific policy development. The principles and key components set out in the Communication are broadly in-line with established HMG positions. They welcome in particular:

—  inclusion of the annex as a useful compendium of possible specific policy measures which could be adopted as part of the "Means of Implementation" of the post-2015 development agenda;

—  the Communication's emphasis on integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development as well as climate change issues;

—  the Commission's support for the UN Secretary General's call that all developed countries should meet the UN target of 0.7% ODA/GNI and agree to concrete timetables to do so;

—  calls for Upper Middle Income Countries (UMICs) and emerging economies to commit to increasing their contribution to international public financing and to specific targets and timelines;

—  recognition that finance and non-finance Means of Implementation need to go hand in hand;

—  the focus on the need for countries to ensure optimal levels of domestic revenue to fund their own development;

—  the inclusion of trade and agree that it plays a critical role in development. They welcome too the effort to categorise different actions between 'actions for all' and actions for the EU;

—  the emphasis on the role of the private sector. It is rightly characterised as a key actor in the transition to sustainable development and an important engine for innovation, sustainable growth, job creation, trade and poverty reduction;

—  the principles set out for addressing private sector engagement;

—  references to the important linkages between climate change, sustainability, and development, since eradicating extreme poverty is impossible without addressing climate change and sustainability;

—  the emphasis on the need for a monitoring, accountability and review framework underpinned by the principles of transparency, inclusiveness and responsiveness, efficiency and effectiveness; and

—  the strong focus on data and participation, connecting national, regional and global reporting and accountability, while avoiding duplication and building on existing systems (see paragraph 12.39 below for the Ministers' comments on each of these issues).

12.10 The Ministers also "broadly support" the references made to migration within the context of a global partnership for development, and consider it "important that migration should be well-managed, legal and safe:

    "We therefore welcome the focus in this report as we consider that, through collaboration, migration can act as an enabler to achieving the sustainable development goals. We will also seek to ensure that the Council Conclusions do not reflect or imply support for burden sharing/intra-EU relocation of migrants and asylum seekers, a position the UK does not support. We believe solidarity is best demonstrated through practical cooperation to support the asylum and migration systems of Member States under pressure, and to reduce the drivers of irregular migration."

12.11 Looking ahead, the Ministers:

—  do not envisage any change in UK financial commitments as a result of this Communication, but are in discussion with the private sector about what the Finance for Development agenda proposals that relate to private sector activity might mean in practice;

—  are also closely engaged with EU partners in the context of the ongoing UN negotiations, to ensure that the EU negotiating position does not stray into areas of Member State competence; and

—  note that the process of developing the EU position and "offer" on Financing for Development is taking place through a series of Joint Working Group and Expert Meetings, with a view to the adoption of Council Conclusions at the 25 May Development Ministers meeting.

12.12 There will no doubt be a time when this process will warrant debating. However, as the Ministers make clear, this Commission Communication is not an EU position, and that this has to be elaborated between now and the end-May "development" Foreign Affairs Council. The Council Conclusions agreed thereat will thus be the key document.

12.13 The Committee would therefore be grateful if the Ministers would provide the Committee with:

—  a copy of the draft Council Conclusions that will go to the Council, with their views thereon; and

—  then a copy of the agreed Council Conclusions, and their assessment of the final outcome.

12.14 The latter should demonstrate how they have ensured that "the EU negotiating position does not stray into areas of Member State competence" (c.f. paragraph 12.30 below).

12.15 In the meantime, we shall retain the documents under scrutiny.

12.16 We also draw these developments to the attention of the International Development Committee.

Full details of the documents: Commission Communication: A Global Partnership for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development after 2015: (36644), 5902/15 + ADD 1, COM(15) 44.

Background

12.17 The 25 June 2013 Council Conclusions on the "Overarching Post 2015 Agenda"[27] stressed that the post-2015 process should reinforce the international community's commitment to poverty eradication and sustainable development and set out a single comprehensive and coherent framework for effective delivery and results at all levels. The framework should be defined around a single set of global goals in order to drive action in all countries. The EU and its Member States reiterated their commitment to play a full and active role in the work to define the post-2015 framework and to work inclusively with all partners, including civil society, scientific and knowledge institutions, local authorities, the private sector and social partners, in considering priority areas for the framework.

12.18 This follow-up Joint Communication sets out the Commission's and European External Action Service's thinking on the post-2015 development agenda, so as to secure international agreement for a new set of sustainable development goals (SDGs) that would shape global development priorities to 2030. The Committee first considered this Joint Communication at its meeting on 2 July 2014.[28]

12.19 The next stage was the UN Secretary General's (UNSG) Open Working Group (OWG) report, which was adopted at the 69th UNGA in September 2014. A synthesis of this report was to feed into the intergovernmental negotiations due to commence in early 2015 that Kenya and Ireland would facilitate, and which would culminate in a Summit at the 70th UNGA in September 2015, when the post-2015 framework would be agreed.

12.20 In our 3 September 2014 Report, we noted that we were content thus far with the Ministers' (Baroness Northover and Dan Rogerson) clarification regarding both the negotiating timetable and in what ways "the EU will negotiate on behalf of Member States"; the latter being essentially because:

—   of EU competence in development issues;[29]

—  this is a tried and tested method, with previous such processes having demonstrated that negotiating as the EU is more likely to secure UK objectives than acting alone, given the tendency in UN negotiations to adopt a "bloc" approach;[30] and

—  because the Ministers envisage a "team EU approach", with a burden sharing agreement enabling individual Member States, including the UK, to lead negotiations on certain issues or goal areas.

12.21 However, as the Ministers noted, how this would work in practice needed to be agreed with the Commission, Member States and legal advisers; we asked the Ministers to write again with full information on these arrangements, once they had been agreed, explaining how they reflected the proper division of competences under the Treaties.

12.22 The Ministers set our their aims with regard to the Council Conclusions that were due to be agreed in December 2014, shortly after the publication of the UNSG's synthesis report. We asked them to write to us with their evaluation of those Council Conclusions, at which point we envisaged recommending that this Commission Communication be debated, so that the House would have the benefit of both documents when the debate took place.

12.23 We also continued to look forward to hearing from them in the New Year about arrangements that, as they rightly put it, "reflect the proper division of competences under the Treaties".[31]

The Ministers' letter of 8 January 2015

12.24 The Ministers (Baroness Northover and Dan Rogerson) said that the Council Conclusions: "A transformative post-2015 agenda" were endorsed at the 12 December 2014 Foreign Affairs Council (Development), adopted by the 16 December 2014 General Affairs Council and endorsed by the Environment Council on 17 December 2014.[32] They updated and set the broad parameters of the EU's negotiating position. They helpfully remained firm on principle, avoid setting out a detailed negotiating position prematurely, yet maintained strong reference to the Government's priorities on poverty eradication, gender, environmental sustainability, climate change and governance. What was needed was a final framework of goals and targets that was simple, inspiring and workable while retaining the breadth and balance of the 17 goals and 169 targets proposed in the Open Working Group (OWG) Report; and with a strong focus on eradicating extreme poverty with sustainable development at the core. This was, they said, within reach in the forthcoming negotiations and the Conclusions provided a good basis for the Government to continue to build support for this approach.

12.25 The Conclusions welcomed the UN Secretary General's synthesis report (published on 4 December 2014 and proposing a framework and organising principles for the final goals framework), which would be an important input into the intergovernmental negotiations that commenced in January. It provided a helpful framing of the issues and points to the need for a more focused outcome on post-2015. It also highlighted the inseparability of environmental sustainability from poverty eradication and growth, and proposed six "essential elements" to frame the post-2015 goals and targets. How these elements related to one another would need to be clarified in due course and the Government would need to ensure that there was sufficient integration of important cross-cutting issues such as environmental sustainability and climate change, into all relevant goals and targets.

12.26 The Ministers also professed themselves pleased that the Conclusions recalled that the EU had formally undertaken to collectively commit 0.7% of GNI to Official Development Assistance by 2015 — "an important signal that we take the means of implementation seriously and that we will collectively honour our commitments".

12.27 Looking ahead, the Ministers anticipated a further Commission Communication and subsequent Council Conclusions on means of implementation in the New Year, and would be "working to ensure effective co-ordination between the goals and financing tracks.

12.28 On the EU negotiating arrangements, the Ministers said that the exact details of the negotiating arrangements for the negotiations within the EU remain to be discussed and developed under the Latvian Presidency and that they continue to favour a "Team EU" or similar approach involving EU actors, the Presidency and Member States based on their expertise"; this, they believe, would be "beneficial in allowing us to maximise our ability to achieve UK objectives"; but, they recognised:

    "an EU position may require compromise or may not be reached in certain areas and will therefore need to ensure sufficient flexibility for both the EU and Member States to play a constructive role in negotiations without prejudicing existing competence/representation arrangements."

12.29 The Ministers concluded by asserting that "the UK has been a key player in post-2015 discussions", and declare that they are "committed to ensuring an ambitious and implementable framework that is needed to drive action over the next fifteen years".

Our assessment

12.30 We noted the question marks over the detailed arrangements that would underpin the "Team EU" approach, and that some compromise and flexibility might be needed at times. However, as had been noted previously, this approach was tried-and-trusted, and to the best of our knowledge had not infringed upon the proper division of competences under the Treaties in the past. We looked forward to being updated on how these arrangements were working in practice during the process of scrutinising the forthcoming Communication on means of implementation.

12.31 In the meantime, we concluded that it was now time for the issues set out in the Joint Communication and the Council Conclusions on it to be debated in European Committee B.[33]

12.32 That debate took place on Wednesday 11 March, at the end of which the Committee resolved thus:

    "That the Committee takes note of European Union Document No. 10412/14 and Addendum, a Commission Communication: A decent Life for all: from vision to collective action; welcomes the document as an important contribution to a debate that is central to both development and environment policy; and supports the Government's efforts in taking forward the post-2015 development agenda."[34]

The Commission Communication

12.33 This Communication, A Global Partnership for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development after 2015, sets out the European Commission's views on the delivery of a new global partnership for poverty eradication and sustainable development after 2015.

12.34 The Global Partnership will provide the "Means of Implementation" for the post 2015 agenda. The Communication sets out the Commission's view on the principles that should underpin the partnership and the components needed to implement the post-2015 agenda. It also puts forward specific proposals on possible contributions by the EU and its Members States. It proposes the following key components:

—  an enabling policy environment at all levels;

—  capacity development;

—  mobilisation of domestic public finance;

—  mobilisation of international public finance;

—  stimulation of trade;

—  change through science and technology;

—  mobilising the domestic and private sector; (viii) harnessing positive effects of migration; and

—  ensuring mechanisms for monitoring, accountability and review.

12.35 The Communication will form the basis for agreeing an EU position in advance of the UN Financing for Development Conference in July and Post-2015 Summit in September. The Communication strongly supports the UN Secretary General's call that all developed countries should meet the UN target of 0.7% ODA/GNI and agree to concrete timetables for doing so.

12.36 In their joint Explanatory Memorandum of 25 February 2015, the Ministers say that, though the Commission Communication is based on recent discussions within the EU, Member States were not formally consulted on the text during its preparation and it is "not an articulation of agreed EU policy".

12.37 The Communication will, however, "set the tone for this year's Council Conclusions on EU post-2015 development financing which will be negotiated by Council working groups", and that the Council "will choose how to respond to the views expressed by the Commission in the Communication". The UK's input to this response will reflect cross-HMG views and will be in line with the position set out below; they "will remain closely engaged with the EU Presidency and other Member States as work proceeds on drafting the Council Conclusions this spring".

12.38 The Ministers also note that this Commission Communication was also informed by the 2014 EU Accountability Report on Financing for Development, which was published in October 2014, and reports against EU commitments on all areas of Finance for Development:

    "The Report found substantial progress against EU commitments on domestic resource mobilisation, private finance for development, combining public and private finance for development, and using development finance effectively; and limited or no progress on EU commitments concerning international public finance for development. We welcome the Report as a valuable accountability tool, and a platform to demonstrate considerable EU progress against many aspects of the Finance for Development agenda."

The Government's view

12.39 The Ministers' detailed views are as follows:

    "We are supportive of the principles and key components set out in the Communication, which are broadly in-line with established HMG positions. We welcome the inclusion of the annex as a useful compendium of possible specific policy measures which could be adopted as part of the Means of Implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

    "The Council Conclusions adopted at the EU General Affairs Council in December 2014 set out the EU's high-level position on the post-2015 development framework. This Communication now provides a good overview of what is needed for effective implementation of the post-2015 development agenda and lays the groundwork for more specific policy development. This is an important step in the process towards agreeing an EU position for the UN negotiations on Finance for Development.

    "We welcome the Communication's emphasis on integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development as well as climate change issues.

    "We welcome in particular the Commission's support for the UN Secretary General's call that all developed countries should meet the UN target of 0.7% ODA/GNI and agree to concrete timetables to do so. Agreeing an EU recommitment to 0.7% ODA/GNI is a top UK objective. We will make all efforts to ensure that this includes a renewed timetable and target dates for countries that have not yet met their commitments. We also welcome calls for Upper Middle Income Countries (UMICs) and emerging economies to commit to increasing their contribution to international public financing and to specific targets and timelines.

    "We welcome the recognition that finance and non-finance Means of Implementation need to go hand in hand. Efforts should focus equally on setting up the right policies and on mobilising adequate financial resources as these are mutually dependent. The Communication rightly highlights the importance of good governance and policy coherence in facilitating an enabling policy environment for inclusive and sustainable growth. It also highlights key issues including tackling environmentally harmful subsidies.

    "We welcome the focus on the need for countries to ensure optimal levels of domestic revenue to fund their own development. This should be achieved through fair, efficient, transparent and accountable administration of both revenue and expenditure policy. Domestic revenue is the most sustainable form of development finance. The Communication highlights ways in which this can be enhanced including by deepening and broadening the domestic resource base, effective debt management and natural capital accounting. We also welcome the acknowledgement that national action should be complemented by international cooperation, for example to combat tax evasion and avoidance. It will be important that this international cooperation extends to combatting corruption and money laundering.

    "We welcome the inclusion of trade and agree that it plays a critical role in development. We welcome too the effort to categorise different actions between 'actions for all' and actions for the EU. We agree with the commitment made to the WTO, extending market access to Least Developed Countries and the focus on trade facilitation. The Communication recognises that the EU and its Member States are the leading providers of Aid for Trade and the EU market is the most open to developing countries. These achievements are worth noting, but we believe that we can be even more ambitious with our offers on trade in Financing for Development. In moving forward it will be important to also consider reducing compliance costs for LDC exporters and removal of subsidies and distortions in agricultural trade.

    "We welcome the emphasis on the role of the private sector. It is rightly characterised as a key actor in the transition to sustainable development and an important engine for innovation, sustainable growth, job creation, trade and poverty reduction. We also welcome the principles set out for addressing private sector engagement. Moving forward we would like to see more specific proposals on how to mobilise private sector finance for poverty eradication and sustainable development.

    "We welcome references to the important linkages between climate change, sustainability, and development, since eradicating extreme poverty is impossible without addressing climate change and sustainability. It will be important to visibly integrate climate and sustainability issues into the post-2015 development framework.

    "We broadly support the references made to migration within the context of a global partnership for development. The UK considers it important that migration should be well-managed, legal and safe. We therefore welcome the focus in this report as we consider that, through collaboration, migration can act as an enabler to achieving the sustainable development goals. We will also seek to ensure that the Council Conclusions do not reflect or imply support for burden sharing/intra-EU relocation of migrants and asylum seekers, a position the UK does not support. We believe solidarity is best demonstrated through practical cooperation to support the asylum and migration systems of Member States under pressure, and to reduce the drivers of irregular migration.

    "We welcome the emphasis on the need for a monitoring, accountability and review framework underpinned by the principles of transparency, inclusiveness and responsiveness, efficiency and effectiveness. The strong focus on data and participation is also welcome. We agree the importance of connecting national, regional and global reporting and accountability, while avoiding duplication and building on existing systems. We hope that such a system would serve to drive political action where progress is off-track, and look forward to discussing further within the EU and in ongoing negotiations in New York."

12.40 Concerning the impact on UK business or civil society, the Ministers say:

    "We do not envisage any impact on UK business or civil society as a result of this Communication. Some of the proposals which may be adopted as part of the Finance for Development agenda relate to private sector activity, and we are in discussion with the private sector about what this might mean in practice. We are also closely engaged with EU partners in the context of the ongoing UN negotiations, to ensure that the EU negotiating position does not stray into areas of Member State competence."

Previous Committee Reports

None, but see (36070), 10412/14 + ADD 1: Twenty-ninth Report HC 219-xxviii (2014-15), chapter 1 (14 January 2015); Twenty-fourth Report HC 219-xxiii (2014-15), chapter 5 (3 December 2014), Ninth Report HC 219-ix (2014-15), chapter 10 (3 September 2014) and Fifth Report HC 219-v (2014-15), chapter 4 (2 July 2014); also see (34747), 7075/13: Fourteenth Report HC 83-xiv (2013-14), chapter 1 (11 September 2013) and Thirty-ninth Report HC 86-xxxviii (2012-13), chapter 6 (17 April 2013). Also see (35203), 12434/13: Fourteenth Report HC 83-xiv (2013-14), chapter 7 (11 September 2013).


23   The eight goals UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that, in 2000, the UN set itself to achieve, most by 2015: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; develop a partnership for development - each with associated targets and benchmarks to measure progress. Back

24   See (34747), 7075/13: Thirty-ninth Report HC 86-xxxviii (2012-13), chapter 6 (17 April 2013). Back

25   See (35203), 12434/13: Fourteenth Report HC 83-xiv (2013-14), chapter 7 (11 September 2013) for our consideration of this Commission Communication. Back

26   The record of the European Committee is available at Gen Co Deb, European Committee B, 11 December 2013, cols. 3-20. Back

27   See Council Conclusions. Back

28   See Fifth Report HC 219-v (2014-15), chapter 4 (2 July 2014). Back

29   The EU's competence in development cooperation and humanitarian aid is a specific form of shared competence commonly referred to as a parallel competence. The treaties define the nature and scope of the EU's competence as follows: "In the areas of development cooperation and humanitarian aid, the Union shall have competence to carry out activities and conduct common policy: however the exercise of that competence shall not result in Member States being prevented from exercising theirs". (Article 4(4) TFEU). While the Maastricht Treaty (1993) provided the first explicit treaty basis for cooperation with developing countries, the Nice Treaty (2003) provided a legal basis for financial and technical cooperation with third countries, notably including non-developing countries in the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa. Most recently, the Treaty of Lisbon (2009) added an explicit basis for humanitarian aid. More generally, the EU's competence in development cooperation and humanitarian aid is defined in detail in Part V of the TFEU, which sets out the overall framework of the EU's external action. For a full discussion of these issues, see "Review of the Balance of Competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union: Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid Report". Back

30   I.e. the G77, EU and JUSCANZ (Australia, Canada New Zealand, Japan, US). Back

31   Twenty-fourth Report HC 219-xxiii (2014-15), chapter 5 (3 December 2014). Back

32   "A transformative post-2015 agenda": endorsed at the Foreign Affairs Council (Development) on 12 December, adopted by the General Affairs Council on 16 December and endorsed by the Environment Council on 17 December 2014; 39 paragraphs over seven pages.  Back

33   See (36070), 10412/14 + ADD 1, COM(14) 335: Twenty-ninth Report HC 219- xxviii (2014-15), chapter 1 (14 January 2015). Back

34   The record of the debate is available at Gen Co Deb, European Committee B, 11 March 2015, cols. 3-18.  Back


 
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