The European Parliament adopted by 556 votes to 56,
with 65 abstentions, a resolution on the role of local authorities
in developing countries in development cooperation.
Parliament considered that strategic planning at
national and local level was absolutely essential to the promotion
and integration of the three main dimensions of development: the
social, economic and environmental dimensions.
It highlighted the need for translating the Commissions new guidelines on local authorities and on recognising their role as
state stakeholders into the effective implementation of
European cooperation, both in terms of the 11th European
Development Fund (EDF) and in terms of the Development Cooperation
Instrument (DCI).
The EU is urged to promote decentralised cooperation
as a way of implementing the development framework post
2015.
To this end, Parliament called on the Commission
to:
- consider the possibility of making decentralisation a
priority funding sector for its external aid financing instruments,
starting with the DCI and the EDF;
- step up efforts to include local authorities as full
stakeholders in the implementation of the 11th EDF in partner
countries, regions, and in relation to sectorial and budgetary
assistance.
For their part, Member States should accord an
appropriate role in their development programmes to local
authorities and to coordinate their activities with those of the
Commission and of other Member States.
Parliament stressed the importance of the following
points:
- ensuring a fairer transfer of resources from national
level to sub-regions, towns and municipalities, ensuring also that some European budgetary
assistance be allocated to funding local authorities, and
establishing a genuine political dialogue among local authorities
as part of European cooperation;
- bearing in mind the role
of local authorities in the implementation of the
Millennium Development Goals:
the MDGs revealed the crucial role of LAs in the
fight against poverty and in the delivery of community services,
such as water and sanitation, primary healthcare and education;
additional resources should be allocated to strengthening the
capacities of decentralised authorities so that they could provide
high-quality public services;
- setting reliable targets and indicators for the
Sustainable Development Goals that
match the contexts, needs and worries of local populations; the
post-2015 process should provide a clear vision for an
implementation of Rio+20 outcomes that recognises the role of local
authorities;
- establish a renewed effective global partnership (with
civil society, the private sector, etc.) with a clear definition and division of
responsibilities among partners;
- strengthening
partnerships with the private sector
by supporting: (i) the emergence of a middle
class through the promotion of private entrepreneurship; (ii)
local, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in job creation
and promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth, notably
through public-private policies; (iii) effective implementation of
accountability mechanisms and definitions of mandatory social and
environmental safeguards;
- strengthening partnership
with civil society: the
post-2015 global development agenda needed to change the role
and impact of civil society organisations (CSOs). The report wanted
to see the setting up mechanisms for regular dialogue between CSOs
and Member States;
- supporting domestic accountability and capacity
building: governments must be
accountable both to domestic stakeholders and to the international
community. The report stressed the importance of promoting good
governance at local level by promoting the principles of
accountability, transparency, participation, responsiveness and the
rule of law; strong efforts needed to be made to improve the
capacity of LAs to deliver public services;
- engaging indigenous people in the preparation of local and regional development
and investment plans;
- creating an enabling environment for the transfer of
technologies through cooperation that
should also include longer-term investments;
- providing in the Commissions partnership plans
support for the management of a sustainable urbanisation
process adopting a territorial
approach to address issues such as waste management and urban
poverty
- stepping up international cooperation
to tackle illicit financial flows
and decentralising power to combat corruption,
including corruption originating from multinational
companies;
- strengthening the mobilisation of
resources: the report stressed the
urgent need to consolidate LA capacities in partner countries in
the area of municipal taxation and budgetary planning. It asked the
Commission to encourage the mobilisation of innovative sources of
financing for decentralised cooperation, and urges the European
Union to hence bolster the decentralised budgets that are a
prerequisite for local development. Parliament considered that
it is more effective to act at local level
in order to improve living conditions for communities, especially
in rural areas. Lastly, it called on the World Bank and the
international financial institutions to update environmental and
social safeguard policies.