Brussels - The radical overhaul of the EU's cumbersome system of foreign aid payments proposed by the External Relations Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, was welcomed yesterday by EU Development Ministers, Patrick Smyth reports.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, applauded the move, saying she had been deeply embarrassed to find on her visit to Ethiopia that EU pledges of food aid had not materialised. The issue was "not an academic one; people are dying," she said.
She also opposed suggestions from some member-states that aid to Ethiopia should be cut off, and denied it was contributing to the war with Eritrea. "Following my visit," Ms O'Donnell told fellow ministers, "I am convinced that properly planned and monitored aid is not facilitating the war effort. It is helping the poorest people in Ethiopia who would be the first affected if this aid was withdrawn." The Minister said that long-term aid should not be used as a political lever.