In June 2009, citizens of the 27 member States of the European Union (EU) will elect their representatives to the European Parliament for the 2009-2014 term. The newly elected Members of the European Parliament will need to guide the European Council and the European Commission through many important decision-making processes. The outcome of these negotiations must not deter development that centres on human rights, neither for the citizens of the EU nor for those outside.
On this occasion, CONCORD – which represents more than 1600 civil society organisations supported by millions of European citizens – calls for a partnership between civil society and the European Parliament in order to find a way towards sustainable development. In this manifesto, CONCORD identifies and discusses three essential EU objectives, namely sustainable development, more and better development aid and democratic accountability, and urges MEPs to act on them.
Concord’s manifesto pays attention to three main areas:
1. Sustainable Development
The EU should put in place coherent, social, economic, trade and security policies that promote the right to sustainable development and responsible citizenship both for citizens of Europe and the rest of the world. Particular attention needs to be paid to climate justice and gender issues.
2. More and better development aid
The EU has already identified the objective of poverty eradication for its development cooperation in its legal frameworks. The EU must ensure that its commitments for more and better aid are based on approaches that respect human rights and contribute to the reduction of social inequalities as well as to strong, informed and actively engaged civil society.
3. Democratic Accountability
The EU institutional and financial framework promotes democratic accountability, transparency, and strengthens participation of civil society organisations and citizens in policy definition and implementation. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) need to ensure that institutional reforms, designed to make the EU more democratic, transparent and open for its citizens, are implemented.
Read the full report ‘The European Union and its Responsibility in the World’ – pdf
