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The financial crisis
is on course for resolution thanks to unprecedented global
action. Amongst the financial stimuli and quantitative
easing, what has happened to Europe's commitment to
Development? In this issue we are pleased to have Morgan
Tsvangirai writing on Development. It is too easy to
forget the commitments the G20 made in April 'We recognise that the
current crisis has an impact on the vulnerable in the poorest
countries and recognise our collective responsibility to mitigate
the social impact of the crisis to minimise long-lasting damage to
global potential'. The EU Development days in Stockholm next
week offer the chance to put Development back at the forefront of
EU policy. The EU was the biggest aid donor in 2008, larger
than the per capita aid levels of the US and Japan, can we sustain
this in the face of the Global Economic
Recession?
Food labelling is back
on the agenda as Parliament considers the different options for
consumer understanding whilst being fair to producers.
Parliament Magazine held a food labelling round table where
considerable progress was made and the rapporteur warned against
'overloading' consumers with information. In order to tackle
levels of heart complications and cholesterol levels Parliament
will have to find the right balance. The outcome of
Parliament's decision has the potential to have lasting benefits
for Europe's health.
More than half the
money spent to help poor countries comes from the European Union
Member States, making it the world's biggest aid donor. We
only have 5 years left to fulfil the Millenium Development
Goals. If we are serious about halving extreme poverty
and halving the spread of aids we need to adopt a joined up
approach, bringing environmental consequences of Climate Change and
land use for food back in the equation.
The European Union has
the chance to honour their commitments to Developing nations and to
make progress during the Development Days. Investment denied
now will have much longer term effects. We must seize the
opportunity to honour our responsibility.
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Editorial - October 2009
