Due to the EPP siding with the far right, the European Parliament has voted down the report on financing for development ahead of the Fourth International Conference in Seville. The report should have called on member states to increase their commitment to international development cooperation. By voting against, the EPP aligns with anti-European forces and undermines the EU’s global credibility and responsibility. As a result, a strong signal from the European Parliament is missing ahead of the upcoming Conference in Seville.
Marit Maij, S&D Shadow Rapporteur on the file, said:
“The Seville Conference is a key moment to relaunch global development financing and show EU leadership, especially when facing the USAID cuts that are expected to increase the amount of preventable deaths by 3 million per year. The European Parliament should be sending a clear, united message. Instead, the EPP has, yet again, sided with the Eurosceptic far right to jeopardise progress and credibility at a critical time.
“The report emphasised that EU development policy must be oriented towards the needs of the people in the partner countries involved, and consistently aligned with the principles of the United Nations Agenda 2030. It calls for an integrated approach to development financing as well as recognition of the current challenges in the international financial architecture. Special emphasis is placed on responsible financing and long-term debt sustainability.
“At least 93% of EU development expenditures should benefit poverty reduction. The report also highlights the urgent need to close funding gaps in key social sectors such as health, education, and social protection. Language on these and other prior commitments was thwarted, as was anything related to gender equality and Sustainable Development Goal 5, with the EPP joining forces with the far right. They are not only backtracking on prior commitments, but also risking development progress even further, any progress made on gender equality, and improvements on all other development commitments as well.”
Udo Bullmann, S&D coordinator in the committee on development, sharply criticises the rejection:
“The global order is under threat and the eyes are on Europe to step up its responsibilities in the international realm. We need a strong, united EU that supports the most vulnerable, holds up its core values, and helps reach stability worldwide. It is incomprehensible that the EPP contributes to undermining the EU’s credibility in foreign policy. They should realise that this short-sightedness weakens the EU’s global standing.
“Development cooperation is an investment in our shared future – not as a cost factor. Global challenges require more than lip service: we must consistently align our funding with the goals of Agenda 2030 and ensure that poverty reduction, as provided for in the European treaties, is given absolute priority and that funding gaps in health, education, and social protection are closed. This is how economic success in the Global South can also be achieved.
“As social democrats in the European Parliament, we call on both the EU Commission and the member states to commit to the urgently needed course changes at the upcoming Conference.”
