a
what was at stake
b
green position
c
what we achieved
d
what we did not achieve

Development policies after the Millennium Development Goals

In 2000, the United Nations (UN) adopted a Millennium Declaration, setting eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be reached by 2015. These MDGs range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education.

In 2013, the UN checked how much progress countries had made towards reaching the MDGs. The results were mixed: extreme poverty had indeed been halved, but the developed economies had still not lowered trade barriers for developing countries, and EU Member States had cut their development aid. Based on these findings, the UN drew up a plan for the period after 2015. Parliament set out to determine what the EU could do.

 

What was the Greens' position?

We are convinced that these issues can be tackled neither by individual countries, nor by the EU. Global 'goods' like a stable climate, clean air, and economic development need a global approach.

In the new development framework for the period after 2015, the Greens want poverty eradication to go hand in hand with environmental sustainability. The MDGs should be brought in line with the targets set at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20.

We also want to define qualitative indicators that measure environmental sustainability, social inclusion or well-being in general, e.g. income inequality, social relations and access to clean nature.

No single policy can achieve success: instead, all these development issues should always systematically be taken into account, an approach experts call 'policy coherence for development'.

 

Did other MEPs accept the Greens' position?

Most of the Greens' amendments were taken on board, including those on the importance of reducing gender gaps in education, eliminating all forms of violence against women, and providing access to universal health coverage, reproductive health care and family planning.

A majority of MEPs backed our proposals on food security, universal access to safe drinking water, minimum levels of social protection and the adoption of binding legislation to finance measures taken after 2015 to attain the MDGs.

 

Which points did the Greens lose?

We regret that our critique of the neoliberal policies of the two big financial institutions affiliated to the UN, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), were not taken on board.

The majority of MEPs did not share our criticism of their deregulation and privatisation policies.

The Greens regretted Parliament's failure to seize this opportunity to hold a fundamental debate on political alternatives for attaining the global goal of poverty eradication.

Reference(s)
Committee:DEVE

Procedure:Ordinary legislative procedure

Reference(s):2011/0269(COD)

Lead MEP:Marian HARKIN (ALDE)

Green MEP responsible:Marije Cornelissen

Voted:11/12/2013

Staff contact:Berta Halmos (Email)

Outcome of the vote
Below you find the results of the final vote in plenary. How did the political groups vote? What about national delegations? And what was the position of your MEP?