The European non-governmental organizations are asking the Council of foreign ministers of the EU to make a bigger commitment to aid to the development of the poor countries: an issue that will be debated, among others, during the UN conference “Finance for development” to be held in Monterrey, in Mexico, from 18 to 22 March. Some representatives of the NGOs who held a brief sit-in in front of the offices of the Council of ministers in Brussels on 19 February, bearing posters with the slogan “Shame on Monterrey” have given a warning to the Union, predicting that the summit could prove “a political failure” if Europe “fails to formulate concrete commitments to boost aid to development”. The expectations of the NGOs for the Monterrey summit include: the drawing up of “a calendar for reaching the objective of 0.7% of GDP in aid to development; a further reduction of the debt of the poorer countries; the creation of a procedure of insolvency for the debtor countries; a tax on currency transactions; and a reform of the global organizations with decision-making powers on economic questions”.
