Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament – Annual Report 2011 on the European Union’s development and external assistance policies and their implementation in 2010

The world began a fragile recovery in 2010 from the financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009. Progress was uneven and patchy. Advanced economies like the United States, Japan and the European Union recorded modest growth. Emerging countries led by China, India, Russia and Brazil advanced more strongly. Developing countries, particularly low-income ones hardest hit by the crisis, had little scope to expand their economies. Some of them were also the first to suffer from a new surge in world commodity, energy and food prices which occurred during the year. They were unable to create or exploit new economic possibilities at home or abroad.

At the same time, world population increased by 79.3 million people, mostly in developing countries. The chances of reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the agreed 2015 deadline slipped. As a result, unemployment and poverty levels increased in poor countries, affecting a further 120-150 million people worldwide in 2009-2010. Young people in particular felt the impact, raising social tension and migratory pressures.

Most developing country governments did not have the resources to apply anti-cyclical policies. They therefore had to reduce budget deficits by cutting expenditure. This negatively affected social, health and education programmes and widened the gap between rich and poor. Income inequality also increased in both advanced and developing countries.

Such was the background to the EU’s efforts in 2010 to provide more and better aid and to deliver it faster and more effectively. One constant of EU development assistance during the year was to provide maximum support to global and local efforts to reach the MDGs. The intention was to prevent progress from backsliding because of the crisis and to consolidate what has been achieved. The EU was a major player at the UN MDG summit in September which agreed to redouble efforts to deliver the full range of MDGs by 2015.

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)414: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:414:FIN

European Commission: SEC(2011)880: Accompanying document http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SEC:2011:0880:FIN:EN:PDF

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