TUDCN’s contributions to the European policies on development

A number of important political processes around the issues of development cooperation policies and programmes have been taking place over the last months at the European institutions level. The most relevant are represented by thethe Structured Dialogue on development effectiveness (led by the EC), the consultations launched by the EC on the Green Paper on Development Policy and on the Multiannual Financial Framework (2014-2020). To feed to these processes TUDCN has formulated the Trade Union Key Messages on EU Development Cooperation and Human Rights Policies as well as more detailed statements for each of the processes.

The Green Paper on EU development policy in support of inclusive growth and sustainable development was published by the European Commission in November 2011, looking into the questions of increasing the impact of EU development policies and sustainable, inclusive growth in the developing countries with a special focus on the issue of agriculture and food security. The Green Paper explored not only the issues of development policy and aid modalities, but also policy coherence, climate change and many related domains. Trade unions’ reaction to the paper has been outlined in the Trade Union contribution to the EU Green Paper Consultation, stressing the the importance of the Decent Work Agenda, social dialogue and putting the focus on poverty eradication. The trade union perspective has been included in the official Report on the consultation on the Green Paper.

The Structured Dialogue on effective partnership for development (SD) process, reuniting the representatives of the EC, European Parliament, EU member states, local authorities and civil society organisations, has come to an end at the closing meeting in Budapest in May 2011, where the two final documents: the Joint Final Statement of the Structured Dialogue and the Structured Dialogue Concluding Paper were adopted. The concluding paper is a summary of the most important debates together with a list of recommendations for all parties: the EU institutions, the national governments, the Civil Society Organisations and the Local Authorities. The Final Statement is a declaration of commitment of support to the implementation of the outcomes of the SD discussions. The follow up meeting of the SD will most likely take place in October 2011 to discuss the implementation and monitoring of the SD conclusions.

In the consultations process concerning the funding for external action in the EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020, the TUDCN has pointed out again the need of focusing on the poverty eradication through inclusive economic growth based on the creation of decent jobs. The Trade Union Contribution to the EU consultation on “What Funding for EU External Action after 2013” document elaborates also on the issues of policy areas, coherence, cooperation with other partners and evaluation. Trade union perspective, together with the comments of other organisations and individuals, has been presented in the official Report of the Public Consultation: ’What Funding for EU external action after 2013?’

Trade union perspective on these processes, especially the Structured Dialogue and the Financial Framework, has been outlined in the Trade Union Key Messages on the EU development cooperation and human rights policies paper, issued by TUDCN in 2011. The document focuses on six key demands:
- making decent work a strategic objective of EU development policies, with social dialogue as an instrument of implementation and a special focus on it in the current debates on the role of private sector in development
- implementing policy coherence for development, in accordance with the international standards and commitments on human rights, labour rights, environmental sustainability etc.
- granting a greater importance to the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the Social Dialogue model in the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR)
- recognizing the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in development and create an enabling political and financial environment to increase the democratic ownership
- establishing a permanent, multi-stakeholder, actor-based, financially supported structured dialogue to improve political framework and modalities of EU development cooperation as a continuation of the Structured Dialogue process, relating more closely with other political processes on the issue, e.g. the ones of OECD-DAC and UNCDF
- meeting the EU Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitments of 0.7% of GNI in the next Multiannual Financial Framework and ensuring the focus on the eradication of poverty and the internationally agreed list of the ODA-receiving countries of OECD-DAC