European Union (Amendment) Bill

In essence, the amendment seeks to strike out the provisions of the Lisbon treaty that increase the influence of the EU's common foreign and security policy over international aid. In doing so, it would allow the EU's development aid resources to be concentrated solely on the delivery of efficient development aid projects, often to the least developed countries, free from the risk that they could become entwined in the EU's political and non-development-related foreign policy objectives. How does the Lisbon treaty risk politicising the EU's development aid and entwining it with the EU's wider foreign policy? First, it includes provisions such as those set out in our amendment No. 247 relating to article 188D of the treaty on the European Community—to be renamed the treaty on the functioning of the European Union—which states:"““Union policy in the field of development cooperation shall be conducted within the framework of the principles and objectives of the Union's external action.””" Secondly, the treaty will create a Foreign Minister, albeit under another name, who could have ultimate—I stress the word ““ultimate””—responsibility for the EU's aid budget. The Foreign Minister will be supported by the External Action Service, or diplomatic service, which it is proposed will incorporate all the EU's external actions, including—importantly in this context—development. The role of the Foreign Minister creates the risk that the substantial resources of the aid budget will be used to carry out EU foreign policy objectives above those of the provision of aid to the least developed countries, which may be less of a priority to the EU if seen solely from a foreign policy point of view. Thirdly, the institutional changes proposed in the treaty would decrease the number of Commissioners and could thus leave development aid without its own Commissioner on an equal footing to the EU Foreign Minister. That is an important question on which I shall ask the Minister for reassurance later, so I am giving him notice in case he needs to seek inspiration on the matter.