Aid funds could be used in anti-terrorism fight

By David Cronin

Date: 23/02/06

Officials in the European Commission have prepared a plan for changing EU development aid policy so that it can fund the fight against terrorism.

Discussions about widening the scope of development aid are currently taking place within the Commission's services as part of programming work for its financial assistance to a large number of countries.

An internal document says that when aid programmes for particular countries are being drawn up, several questions should be asked, including: "is the country relevant in the fight against terrorism?", "is it significant for EU foreign policy?" and "is there an identified need of technical assistance [for security reasons]?"

The paper states that the Cotonou agreement between the EU and the 77-country African, Caribbean and Pacific bloc makes clear that aid earmarked for fighting terrorism must be separate from traditional development assistance.

But no such distinction is identified for aid to poor countries in Asia and Latin America.

The plan for changing the nature of development assistance has been drawn up despite a legal challenge being mounted by the European Parliament.

In late 2005, Commission officials were notified that MEPs had referred a grant of EUR 5 million to an anti-terrorism scheme in the Philippines to the European Court of Justice. Both the Commission and representatives of EU governments had agreed releasing that sum from the EU budget to help the Filipino authorities comply with a UN resolution approved after the 11 September 2001 attacks.

But lawyers advising the Parliament had said it was "beyond doubt" that the activities covered by that programme could not be financed from the EU's development aid.

Dutch Socialist Max van den Berg, a vice-chairman of the Parliament's development committee, said there was a "big need" for the EU to finance anti-terrorist activities but all money for that purpose should be "fresh and new".

Using money earmarked for fighting poverty for security purposes was forbidden, he said, under the criteria for official development assistance set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

A Commission official said, however, that there was a widespread belief within the EU executive that security was a precondition for ensuring economic development.

n In a separate move, the Parliament's legal service has called for the EU to define more closely what it deems to be a 'developing' country.

The call is contained in an opinion on the Commission's plans, first put forward in 2004, to merge 16 of the EU's external assistance programmes.

It concludes that there is a "lack of clarity" on the interaction of the clauses in the EU treaties on development assistance with those on economic co-operation with third countries.

While the treaties contain a commitment to "the fight against poverty in developing countries", the EU has no precise definition of what constitutes a developing country.

Nonetheless, it argues that the EU may not, in general, mix assistance designed to reduce poverty with measures aimed at opening the markets of third countries to European firms.

Article reports that discussions about widening the scope of development aid were taking place within the European Commission's services as part of programming work for its financial assistance to a large number of countries. The changes would allow for assistance to be used to support developing countries in the fight against terrorism.