EU and "reproductive rights"” “

The funds allocated by the European Union for support to demographic policies and programmes in the developing countries are, as things stand today, disciplined by Regulation no. 1484/97, which expires at the end of the year. To replace it, the European Parliament and the Council have presented a “Draft Regulation on support for policies and actions concerning reproductive and sexual hygiene and connected rights in the developing countries” (cf. SirEurope no.31 and no. 26/2002). Starting out from the twofold assumption of the need to reduce the “death and sickness rate among mothers” and the “ban on promoting both incentives in favour of sterlization or abortion for family planning purposes and the improper experimentation of birth control methods in the developing countries”, the EU aims with its new Regulation to “promote the recognition of reproductive and sexual rights, safe maternity and access for everyone to reliable services in the field of reproductive and sexual hygiene”. To whom will the aid be addressed? The beneficiaries of the aid will be “the poorest and less developed countries and the most disadvantaged sections of the population in the developing countries” and “interventions aimed at completing and reinforcing the policies and capacity of the developing countries and assistance provided through other instruments of cooperation in development”. The funds may be allocated to state, regional and local institutions and agencies, to non government organizations, to regional international organizations, to international bodies like the United Nations, the FAO or the World Bank, to international “partnerships” between the public and private sectors, and also to research institutes and universities. The draft regulation does not dissociate itself from the Regulation currently in force, although it does present some significant innovative features: the first and most substantial of these concerns the budget that, as from 2003 and for a period of four years, would amount to at least 20 million euros per year (provisional agreement with the Budgetary Commission of the European Parliament has already been reached on this) in comparison with an overall expenditure of 35 million Ecu for the five-year period 1998-2002, for which provisionis made by Regulation 1484/97. Promoting education. The second innovation of the draft regulation consists in the fact that the beneficiaries of European funding also include for the first time the universities and research institutes, to stress the importance attached to healthcare education, training and research. Thirdly, the draft Regulation prescribes that the executive Commission should annually formulate “guidelines of strategic planning to define the Commission’s cooperation in terms of measurable objectives, priorities, and deadlines for the specific sectors of intervention to which the Regulation is addressed”. It should also enunciate the presuppositions and planned results of EU intervention. The adoption of the Regulation by the Council is expected to take place in the course of October, so that it may enter into force by the end of the year. It would expire on 31 December 2006.