Press Release

24 May 2005

£14 Billion European Union Boost to Fighting Global Poverty

Member States set timetable to reach the UN 0.7% aid target

International Development Secretary Hilary Benn welcomed today’s agreement by the European Union to a multi-billion pound aid commitment as “a major breakthrough in the fight against world poverty”. Development Ministers from the 25 members of the European Union meeting in Brussels agreed to increase dramatically the amount of aid they provide to developing countries.

The richest 15 Member States agreed that by 2010 they should each spend a minimum of 0.51% of their national budgets on Official Development Assistance. The newest 10 Member States who joined the Union last year agreed to strive to reach a parallel target of 0.17%. This means that collectively the European Union will spend at least 0.56% of their national budgets on aid by 2010, which will generate an estimated additional €20 billion (£14 billion) of new aid per year, compared to 2006 commitments.

The 15 also made an historic commitment to reach the UN target of 0.7% by 2015, with the 10 agreeing to strive towards 0.33% on the same timetable. For the newer Member States, this means a major shift to donor status despite having been until recently aid recipients themselves. It also means that EU aid will more than double in less than 10 years.

Speaking immediately after the meeting in Brussels, Hilary Benn described the agreement as groundbreaking in the fight against global poverty.“This is a landmark in international efforts to make faster progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. The EU provides over half of all global assistance.Today’s agreement shows that Europe has put itself at the forefront of efforts to reduce global poverty. I very much hope that other donors will follow Europe’s lead as soon as possible.

“In the current climate, these are very challenging targets for some Member States. The fact that they have signed up to them is proof that all Member States recognise the importance in 2005 of helping the world’s poorest. I congratulate the European Commission and the Luxembourg Presidency for their work to secure this agreement and also pay tribute to the thousands of ordinary people across who have lobbied their governments to provide more aid. This is Europe at its best. 

“Today’s agreement also states that at least half of new aid should be spent in Africa, where we are seeing least progress towards the MDGs. We will use the G8 Summit we are hosting in Gleneagles, and our forthcoming Presidency of the EU to agree further concrete measures, with a particular focus on Africa