Is the principle of coherence maintained in the Constitution?

The principle of coherence has been introduced in the Maastricht treaty and its has been reintroduced in the European Constitution in article III-316.

This principle obliges the European Union to ensure that its internal and external policies that have an impact on developing countries are coherent with EU development objectives. The article on development co-operation (art III-316) has the eradication of poverty as overarching objective. This therefore means that in theory, EU trade or agricultural policies should contribute to the eradication of poverty in developing countries.

Will the Commissioner for Development remain with the new Constitution?

The Constitution fixes the number of Commissioners but it does not define the portfolios of these commissioners. Until 2014 the Commission will be composed of 1 member per country (25 to 27 Commissioners). From 2014 the Commission will have 18 or 19 members (2/3 of the number of member states).

The current Commission, which will stay in office until 2009 has a Commissioner for Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid. The previous Commission (1999-2004) was composed of 20 members and it had a Commissioner for Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid. The decrease in the number of Commissioners in 2014 should therefore not lead to the disappearance of the Development Commissioner since the previous Commission contained approximately as many members as the 2014 Commission will have.

However questions will be raised on the responsibilities of the Development Commissioner and his/her relations with the European Foreign Minister and the European External Action Service when the Foreign Minister arrives probably in 2007.

The establishment of this European External Action Service should happen with clear reference to Europe's new Constitution, recognising the unique and independent position of Development in the area of Europe's external relations in the Constitution. The future EU architecture should enable and support independent policies in the areas of development cooperation and humanitarian aid. Importantly, these areas should not be subsumed into other areas of Foreign Policy. And finally, Development should be supported by a strong political figure at Commission level, who can advocate for the interests of developing countries and who can cooperate closely with the new European Foreign Minister.

What is the role of the EU Foreign Minister according to the Constitutional Treaty?

The Union Minister for Foreign Affairs (UMFA) has 2 tasks (2 hats):

• one in the Council with responsibility for Common Foreign Security Policy and Common Security and Defense Policy
• one in the Commission with responsibility for handling the co-ordination of external Commission competences (external trade, Development Co-operation, Humanitarian Aid..) and direct responsibility on general external relations.

The UMFA will then replace the high representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (currently Javier Solana) as well as the Commisioner responsible for external relations (currently Benita Ferrero Waldner). However the UMFA will not replace the Commissioners for Trade (Peter Mandelson) or the Commissioner for Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid (Louis Michel).

What are the competences of the Union in the field of development cooperation?

According to the Constitution development cooperation is an area of shared competence between the Union and the Member States. The exercise of this competence by the Union doesn’t prevent the Member States from exercising their competence. National development policies and EU policy should complement and reinforce each other. (article I-14) This special status allocated to Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid allows for strong joint EU actions while maintaining bilateral development programmes of the Member States that provide added value given the expertise available in specific interests of the national development administrations.

What is the role of the European Parliament in the decision-making on development cooperation?

Development cooperation policy is subject to the ordinary legislative procedure (new co-decision procedure). This means that the Parliament has legislative power together with the Council. Nothing changes on this in comparison with previous treaties. Parliament’s decisions are prepared by the Committee on Development.

What are the main principles/objectives of the Union’s development cooperation?

The primary objective of the Union’s development cooperation policy is the reduction and, in the long term, the eradication of the poverty. (article III-316)

The principle of coherence of EU internal and external policies with development objectives when these policies are likely to affect developing countries, is being reaffirmed strongly in the Constitution (article III-316).

The development article also makes a clear reference to the Millennium Development Goals, by stating that :” The Union and the Member States shall comply with the commitments and take account of the objectives they have approved in the context of the United Nations and other competent international organizations”.

What are the main changes in the field of Development Cooperation in the Constitution compared to earlier treaties? (article III-316)

A. Clarification on the status of Development Cooperation as one of the element of external actions, but that should in now way be subordinated to security, trade or agricultural priorities.

B. EU Development policy is re-centered on the fight against poverty. It becomes its overarching objective.

C. The scope of EU Development policy is clarified. It relates to all developing countries.

D. Strengthening of the principle of coherence of EU internal and external policies with development objectives when these policies are likely to affect developing countries.

What are the main changes in the field of Humanitarian Aid in the Constitution compared to earlier treaties? (article III-321)

A. Creation of a legal basis for Humanitarian Aid. There was no article on Humanitarian Aid in the previous treaties.

B. Definition of the key principles governing Humanitarian actions: impartiality, neutrality, non-discrimination and international law.

C. Setting up of a European Voluntary Aid Corps.

How will the consistency between Development Cooperation and other aspects of external action be ensured?

The Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, in the framework of the group of Commissioner dealing with external policies (Development and Humanitarian Aid, Trade, Neighbourhood, Enlargement) will be responsible for reaching consistency between the various areas of external relations. In view of reaching a balanced consistency, it is important to make sure that Development is supported by a strong political figure at Commission level.

Is there any articles concerning the finances allocated to Development Cooperation?

There is no specific article on the finances going to EU development policy. The share of the EU budget going to Development Co-operation will be defined in the financial negotiations. The Constitution sets the framework for these negotiations.
EU finances are being defined in 2 steps:

A. Negotiation on a multiannual financial framework.
These negotiations define how much will the member states be contributing to the EU budget in a given period (currently 7 years period). These financial negotiations are currently taking place for the period 2007-2013. The role of the European Parliament in these negotiations will be increased with the Constitution

B. Annual budget negotiations
Every year the Parliament co-decides with the Council on the budget. Members of the European Parliament and representatives of the Council have therefore the possibility, on a proposition coming from the Commission, to switch money from one objective to another. However they cannot increase the overall amount of the yearly budget, which is fixed in the 7 year financial framework mentioned above.

The Union receives a legal personality, what does it mean for external relations and development cooperation?

The legal personality given to the EU means that it has the right to conclude international agreements and it should be considered as a single entity in the framework of international negotiations, discussions, etc. This will not compromise the division of competences between the Union and the Member States, but this will certainly help in presenting a united front in international fora such as the UN conferences, the International Financing Institutions or the World Trade Organisation.

Apart from development cooperation, what kind of cooperation the Union has with third countries?

According to the Constitution the Union has two different frameworks for the cooperation with third countries: one for all developing countries (articles on development cooperation: III-316-318) and another one for non developing countries (articles on economic, financial and technical cooperation: III 319-320). The measures taken with non developing countries relate to the economic, financial or technical cooperation. They should be consistent with the Union’s development policy. The economic, financial and technical cooperation is subject to co-decision procedure between the Council and the European Parliament, which is not the case under the Nice Treaty.

This clarification is very important since it ensures that the EU defines its relations with developing countries under the development legal basis (articles III-316-318). The framework for the relations with these countries will therefore be based on the overarching objective of development policy: poverty eradication. If this clarification would not have been made, a country like Bangladesh could have been falling under economic, financial and technical cooperation and the EU assistance could have been centered on Europe’s own interests instead of the sustainable development of this country.

Article 319 had originally been introduced in the Nice treaty. However the Nice version of this article (article 181a) does not specify that developing countries are excluded from the scope of this article. Going back to the Nice treaty would then leave the possibility to Nepal to be treated like an industrialized country such as the United States.

How does the Constitution affect the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)?

Article III-316 paragraph 2 says: “The Union and the Member States shall comply with the commitments and take account of the objectives they have approved in the context of the United Nations and other competent international organizations”. This refers, among others, to the Millennium Development Goals. The Union’s primary objective to reduce and eradicate the poverty is in line with the MDGs.

How does the Constitution affect the Union’s role in the international organizations, like UN, IMF, WTO?

The Union may conclude agreements with international organizations where the Constitutions so provides or where the conclusion of an agreement is necessary in order to achieve one of the objectives referred to in the Constitution, or is provided for in a legally binding Union act or is likely to affect common rules or alter their scope.

The Union will have legal personality which will help in being considered as a single entity in the framework of international discussions, negotiations of international agreements such as the UN conferences, the International Financing Institutions or the World Trade Organisation.

The Union Minister for Foreign Affairs will be responsible for negotiating agreements which relate exclusively or principally to the Common Foreign and Security Policy. This means that nothing prevents the Commissioner for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid to be the EU negotiator, or a member of the negotiating team, when the agreements related to Development Cooperation or Humanitarian Aid.

The powers of the European Parliament in this field are strengthened by the Constitution since it should also be consulted on all agreements covering fields to which the ordinary legislative procedure (ex co-decision procedure) or special legislative procedure applies and the percentage of issues being co decided would grow from 75% to 95% of all decisions with the Constitutional Treaty. In the case of development the case for development cooperation or humanitarian aid.

Is there any improvement on civil society dialogue in the Constitutional Treaty?

Article I-47 is the first legal base for participatory democracy in EU law. 3 major improvements:

A. All European institutions are obliged to maintain an “ open, transparent and regular dialogue” with civil society.

B. The Commission is obliged to carry out broad consultations with the parties concerned. This could relate to citizens organizations from developing countries in the case of a law on development cooperation.

C. A group of at least 1000 000 citizens from various Member States can invite the Commission to submit a proposal. The practical details of this European citizens initiative will be defined in a European law at a later stage.

How is it ensured that the EU’s development cooperation policy will not overrun by Union’s security and commercial policies?

As stated in the article on development cooperation (article III-316): The Union has to take into account the objectives of development cooperation in the policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries.

This clause contributes to strengthen the position of development vis a vis the Common Foreign and Security Policy. Moreover Development policy is confirmed as a community policy (subject to the normal legislative procedure). As the CFSP has a different status (intergovernmental policy), the interactions between CFSP and development should preserve the different nature of these two policies. The Union Minister for Foreign Affairs is responsible for Common Foreign and Security Policy and Common Security and Defense Policy within the Council but not for all external Commission competence. S/he is only responsible for ensuring all EU's external policies are consistent and coordinated. Trade, Enlargement, Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid remain policy areas defined and implemented separately and dealt with by other Commissioners. The final wording of the article on the role of the Union Foreign Minister (art. I-28 paragraph 4: “consistency of Union ’s external actions”) preserves the integrity of external Commission policy. The status of Development Cooperation as a policy in its own right is therefore confirmed through this article.

How is the coordination between the Union’s development policy and Member States ensured?

Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid are both considered as competences that should be shared between the Union and the Member States. (Article I-14) However both Development and Humanitarian Assistance are defined as special shared competence since the Member States are not prevented to act on a specific development or humanitarian issue when the EU is active on it already.

National Development policies and the EU policy should not only complement each other, they have to reinforce each other. This special status allocated to Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid allows for strong joint EU actions while maintaining bilateral development programmes of the Member States that provide added value given the expertise available in specific interests of the national development administrations. The complementarity nature of the shared competence applying to Humanitarian Aid and Development Cooperation allows a strong interaction with the national public and help building public support at national level.

How does the Constitution affect the cooperation with African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries?

The Cotonou agreements, as international agreements signed by representatives of the EU Member States and ACP countries, keeps the same legal status. The EU-ACP cooperation therefore still falls under these agreements.

The special status allocated to ACP-countries in the previous Treaty (art. 179 TEC) has not been reintroduced in the Constitutional Treaty. This article aimed at preserving a special status for the cooperation with ACP countries and specifically keeping the European Development Fund (EDF), which incorporates money dedicated to ACPs, out of the general EU aid framework and therefore out of the general EU budget.

The deletion of this sentence does not mean that the EDF will be integrated within the overall budget, as other changes in EU primary law would be needed to allow budgetisation (Maastricht Declaration 12). The inclusion of the EDF in the overall budget of the Union is a political change that will not happen unless all Member States agree. Discussions on this possible budgetisation are currently taking place in the context of the negotiations on EU finances during the years 2007-2013.