UN warns EU against cutting international aid in next budget

BRUSSELS

The United Nations headquarters building in New York City, U.S., June 8, 2021. (AFP File Photo)

The U.N.'s refugee agency has warned the European Union against "short-sighted" cuts to international aid, as Germany spearheads a push to slash the size of the bloc's next joint budget.

"It's an easy target. It's much more easy to explain to the taxpayers that we are going to spend less money abroad," Jean-Nicolas Beuze, the UNHCR's representative to the EU, told AFP in an interview on Oct. 13.

"There is a short-sighted view of saying we are going to make savings by spending less abroad, but of course this will have negative consequences on our prosperity and our stability and security."

EU leaders will wrangle over the 2028-2034 budget at a summit in Brussels from Oct. 15 as they push to reach a deal by Christmas.

Ireland, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, last week suggested shaving some 140 billion euros ($156 billion) off an earlier two-trillion-euro proposal for the overall budget.

But that failed to satisfy a group of so-called "frugal" countries led by Germany who are arguing for deeper cuts at a time that national budgets are under strain.

Foreign aid already looks like it could be on the chopping block.

Ireland has put forward cutting the part that covers international aid by 17 percent — while largely leaving sensitive areas like funding for EU farmers untouched.

At the same time Dublin pushed to ringfence 25 billion euros for humanitarian assistance.

EU officials point out that the amounts on the table would represent an increase on the bloc's last budget agreed in 2020.

"But it's an increase which is compensated with the number of crises that have erupted over the last 10 years," Beuze said.

The UNHCR representative warned against cutting both humanitarian aid and broader development funding.

"Cutting the humanitarian aid would have an immediate and visible impact. It means that parents won't be able to put food on the table, and children won't go to school," he said, pointing to a potential increase in refugees heading to Europe as a consequence.

"But we need the same efforts and focus on development if we want to get out of this vicious circle of creating dependency."

The fate of the EU's central funding has become even more pressing as numerous member states have cut back their own budgets and the United States has slashed its role.

The EU and its 27 member countries are the world's biggest providers of international aid.

"Being the largest provider of humanitarian development aid comes with responsibilities, but it's also an opportunity to expand your sphere of influence in a very positive manner," Beuze said.

"Not using this leadership role will mean missing an opportunity to shape the future of humanity, the future of the world."

Unlike in its previous budget the EU has put on the table a separate fund to support war-torn Ukraine, worth some 90 billion euros.

"Ukraine is critically important," Beuze said.

But he pointed to other crises including in Gaza, Sudan, Afghanistan and the Sahel as also requiring the EU's attention — and funding.

"All those crises are geographically, if you look at a map, really encircling the European Union."