Christian Aid challenges Blair on EU poverty impact
-15/11/05
Christian Aid, the UK-ba
Christian Aid challenges Blair on EU poverty impact
-15/11/05
Christian Aid, the UK-based international development agency, is calling on Prime Minister Tony Blair to put as much effort into opposing the European Unionís aggressive liberalisation agenda towards poor countries as he puts into criticising the Common Agricultural Policy.
Rich countries, including those in the European Union (EU), are using the reform of subsidies as a lever to force economically vulnerable nations to open their markets, says the organisation, which is backed by Britainís major churches.
This is despite historical evidence that shows poor countries need flexibility to use targeted protection to develop their economies ñ a point that Tony Blairís Africa Commission explicitly recognised in March 2005.
îClaims about the massive benefits of trade liberalisation give the wrong impression about how much the poorest will benefit,î said Martin Drewry, Christian Aidís head of campaigns, today.
He continued: ìMost of the benefit will go to the richest countries. And within those countries it is often the larger companies that benefit. In most cases, the poorer the country the fewer benefits it will realise.î
Analysis of recent World Bank projections suggests that developing country gains from such reforms will amount to less than a penny-a-day per capita.
ìIf the gap between rich and poor is not to become even wider, it is imperative that poor countries are not forced to liberalise their trade policies in return for the reform of EU subsidies,î declared Martin Drewry.
ìPoorer countries must have the flexibility to protect vulnerable producers and develop new industries,î he said.
Meanwhile Christian Aid maintains that it is pleased at the Prime Ministerís efforts to keep the fight against global poverty high on the international agenda, but is still concerned that Tony Blairís current focus on reforming agricultural subsidies could be missing the point.
Christian Aid challenges Blair on EU poverty impact
-15/11/05
Christian Aid, the UK-based international development agency, is calling on Prime Minister Tony Blair to put as much effort into opposing the European Union’s aggressive liberalisation agenda towards poor countries as he puts into criticising the Common Agricultural Policy.
Rich countries, including those in the European Union (EU), are using the reform of subsidies as a lever to force economically vulnerable nations to open their markets, says the organisation, which is backed by Britain’s major churches.
This is despite historical evidence that shows poor countries need flexibility to use targeted protection to develop their economies – a point that Tony Blair’s Africa Commission explicitly recognised in March 2005.
‘Claims about the massive benefits of trade liberalisation give the wrong impression about how much the poorest will benefit,’ said Martin Drewry, Christian Aid’s head of campaigns, today.
He continued: ‘Most of the benefit will go to the richest countries. And within those countries it is often the larger companies that benefit. In most cases, the poorer the country the fewer benefits it will realise.’
Analysis of recent World Bank projections suggests that developing country gains from such reforms will amount to less than a penny-a-day per capita.
‘If the gap between rich and poor is not to become even wider, it is imperative that poor countries are not forced to liberalise their trade policies in return for the reform of EU subsidies,’ declared Martin Drewry.
‘Poorer countries must have the flexibility to protect vulnerable producers and develop new industries,’ he said.
Meanwhile Christian Aid maintains that it is pleased at the Prime Minister’s efforts to keep the fight against global poverty high on the international agenda, but is still concerned that Tony Blair’s current focus on reforming agricultural subsidies could be missing the point.