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Financing instrument for development cooperation: Parliament endorses new legislation

Financing instrument for development cooperation: Parliament endorses new legislation

2011. 12. 01.

Beside changing the substance of the regulation of the European Instrument for Democracy & Human Rights (EIDHR), thanks to the Report, the European Parliament has gained more influence over resources earmarked for human rights.

The objective of the change is to provide a more effective, feasible and coherent financial tool for the EU to be able to enforce the validation of human Rrghts and the development of democratic institutions. The financial tool enables support in the struggle for children's rights, the fight against torture and ill-treatment and the overall protection of human rights.

The beneficiaries of the EIDHR are those NGOs that fight for human rights in third world countries, sometimes in the most difficult circumstances. This financial tool also supports NGOs often without the knowledge or the consent of the dictatorial governments that they face.

It is important to involve the European Parliament in the preparation of decisions in order to make sure that the financial support ends up in the right place and that it will be used appropriately. Consequently, for Parliament is was a legitimate demand that the multiannual budget and the strategy should be decided with the Parliament's co-decision. The former resistance of the Commission and the Council to the Parliament’s involvement had been incomprehensible for the Parliament.

The adaptation of the Report confirms the agreements that have resulted from these two years of negotiations, and which enables the Parliament to supervise an important human rights financial support mechanism.

After the adoption of the reports Kinga Gál MEP emphasised: "The Parliament reached a successful compromise with the Council in the form of the agreed joint statement which confirms their common commitment for the future. Thus the EP will have an enhanced role in the formulation and adoption of the strategy papers of the financial instruments. This increased role is particularly important by the EIDHR, as the beneficiaries of the programme are third country local civil society organisations, which intervene without the agreement of the governments of third countries. In this case, the EP has to have a say in the allocation of the funds."