Development cooperation with South Africa

The committee adopted the report (codecision procedure, second reading) by Miguel Angel MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ (PES, E) amending the Council's common position on development cooperation with South Africa. One amendment concerned commitology, so as to allow a form of committee management which was directed more towards the impact and effectiveness of this important programme and less towards the consideration of individual projects. The other amendment concerned funding. The committee felt that the allocation of EUR 787.5 million proposed by the Council would in practice mean a 10% cut by comparison with the funds agreed on five years ago. It therefore proposed the figure of EUR 885.5 million, entailing an increase of less than 1% per annum, intended solely as a partial compensation for inflation. The committee pointed out that it was a matter of urgency that Parliament should adopt the Council's text so that the regulation could be brought into force, as the previous regulation had expired in 1999, thereby leaving an important cooperation scheme without a legal basis. While criticising the delays that had occurred in the procedure, the committee nevertheless expressed satisfaction at the fact that the Council had adopted the substance of most of the amendments proposed by Parliament at first reading. �