The European Union at Geneva 2000
By Simon Stocker
Even though the Copenhagen Summit for Social Development brought together
the largest gathering of World leaders in history, many of the commitments
that they made have yet to be implemented. Today more people live in poverty than in 1995,
inequalities are increasing, and the international resources allocated
to social development have declined.
There is much focus on the failure of many developing countries to achieve
the goals, but there needs to be equal recognition of the poor performance
of many industrialised countries. While social components are now widely
accepted as integral and crucial to human-centred sustainable development,
the means to put these into place are still missing.
In 1995 leaders of the European Union were among the 134 heads of state and government that endorsed the 10 commitments and the programme of action. In so doing they not only committed themselves to people-centred policies and to the global eradication of poverty, but also to take decisive actions to achieve this goal.
As a group of the World’s richest nations the EU has a central role to play in making Copenhagen’s goals a reality. Its social welfare systems, that have been built up during the second half of the 20th Century, are seen by many as models from which valuable experiences can be drawn.
At the same time, since it collectively provides some 55 percent of total aid to developing countries, it has a crucial role to play in helping to enable social development strategies to be pursued in developing countries. In addition, he EU is a major trading partner with all developing countries, provides a significant proportion of the total global investment to other parts of the world, and as a block holds more votes in the Bretton Woods Institutions than any other single country.
Over the past five years there has been some progress in bringing many, but not all, of the Copenhagen commitments into EU policies. Their integration into many resolutions that have been adopted by the six monthly meetings of EU Development Ministers is a testament to this. Development policies of the EU, in line with those of most OECD donor countries, now give much greater focus to the poverty reduction as the central objective. However, the translation of this into practical strategies is much harder to identify. Admittedly, it takes time to put these into place, but all too often other signals cast doubt on the actual commitment to the goals that were set.
The starkest indicator is the level of aid. Since 1995 levels of aid have continued to fall, despite the commitments made in Copenhagen. Since decisions on aid levels are controlled by donor countries the failure by many to maintain aid levels, let alone provide increases, raises questions about real commitments. These tend to be re-enforced when donor countries prioritise their approaches on social development targets through institutions where developing countries have little or no formal influence, such as the OECD, the World Bank and the IMF.
For wealthy nations to promote development strategies based on developing country ownership when the parameters for these are set by institutions that they dominate seems contradictory. Recognition of the crucial need for ownership by developing countries of their development strategies is not in question, but the process to achieve this is of fundamental importance, particularly when the external influences resulting from globalisation diminish possibilities for national governments.
Over the past decade the succession of UN conferences and summits reached many agreements that laid the basis for a better future for all, with commitments to make this a reality. This will only happen, however, if they are implemented in a full balanced way in which all sides are seen to fulfil their commitments. It is perhaps understandable that many developing countries feel that the agreements are being used to make demands of them, while commitments from the North remain empty.
The review processes of the 1990s conferences are viewed with increased
scepticism. The preparatory processes
have become bogged down, too often on issues for which there is already
language that has been agreed before.
If the Special Session is to make a significant contribution to
reasserting the centrality of human-centred equitable development then
there need to be clear signals about the intention of the international
community to pursue the commitments made five years ago.
It is particularly important for the richer nations to do so. Given the
influence of the EU it needs to give
a clear and unambiguous lead.
In particular the EU and its Member States should not only commit
themselves to reversing the downward trend in aid, but agree that by 2005
the UN target of 0.7 percent of GNP will be reached.
Increasing priority should be given to using aid to invest in social
development. Similarly the EU should commit its support for immediate
and full debt relief, especially for the poorest countries. Commitment should also be given to the potential use of a capital
transfer tax for controlling instabilities in global financial transfers,
and as a means of raising resources for development.
If the Copenhagen commitments are to be realised their political importance
has to be re-asserted. A new summit
of the world’s leaders in 2005, the mid point between the Copenhagen
Summit in 1995 and the target date for many of its commitments, could
help to achieve this. Ultimately,
however, it is crucial to re-establish confidence in the UN as the forum
for establishing international agreements of this kind.
While far from perfect, it at least enables all countries to formally
meet on equal terms.
Read TerraViva
The IPS renowned international newspaper will publish a special edition in Geneva, at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (Copenhagen+5). Follow the conference on line day by day from June 26 through July 1, with exclusive reports by a team of 13 IPS journalists from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, North America and Latin America.
A selection of the IPS Coverage from Geneva will also be carried by TerraViva Daily Journal (New York) and TerraViva Europe (Brussels),.
Has the world lived up to its 1996 commitments..?
Solidarity 2000 starting 17th of June!
MS's big summer event Solidarity 2000 will start very soon now, with a week-long variety of debates and arrangements. The activities range from encounters between young people from Balkan, Africa and Central America to big conferences on the planet's social development and environment.
Judge by yourself:
The 1996 Copenhagen Social Summit final report in English, French and Spanish.