EU to shift billions from development work to 'migration management’

The European Union plans to divert billions of euros from poverty and climate projects in low-income countries to improve its “migration and border management,” said aid organizations. The bloc’s new multiyear budget — dominated by a €50 billion ($54.8 billion) aid stream for Ukraine — also includes a proposal to shift up to €2.6 billion within its main development funding pot to tackling what it calls the “extraordinary geopolitical tension” from increased migration. The Ukraine package was blocked by Hungary’s right-wing government late last week, but leaders of other EU nations have an alternate plan to force it through at an emergency summit to be held on Feb. 1. A statement signed by 10 civil society groups, coordinated by the ONE Campaign, condemns the move to divert funding toward migration as “short-sighted” and accuses the E.U. of “a loss of global leadership” at a critical time. “While it seeks to increase support for Ukraine, and rightly so, other parts of the world will be left to foot the bill for migration management priorities,” it reads. “The EU can and must do much better: shrinking back from the rest of the world now is incomprehensible and would lead to a loss of global leadership in an increasingly competitive world. The planet is burning and poverty is rising.” Much of the €2.6 billion will be reallocated within the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument, or NDICI, and the rest from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, a fund to prepare future EU members. Last week, the EU announced it would open negotiations for Ukraine to join the bloc, although membership is likely to be many years away. The aim is to “maintain effective migration cooperation with third countries,” including Syrian refugees in Turkey, and target “migration routes” in “the Western Balkans, the Southern neighbourhood and Africa.” The EU is paying billions to North African countries, including Libya and Tunisia, to prevent migrants from making the journey. The NDICI’s stated purpose is “to support countries most in need to overcome long-term developmental challenges” to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change, with a seven-year budget set at €79.5 billion. It pledged €29.2 billion for sub-Saharan Africa; €8.5 billion for Asia and the Pacific; and €3.39 billion for the Americas and the Caribbean; plus €6.36 billion for human rights and conflict prevention; and €3.18 billion for rapid response work. The NDICI also funds crucial global health partnerships including the vaccine alliance Gavi and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The briefing note from the European Council meeting last Thursday and Friday argues the rethink within the Multiannual Financial Framework is not “undermining any political priority within the current MFF” because it is a “reuse of decommitments.” But civil society groups are arguing development will be the loser and that there was already too little within the NDICI to continue funding Gavi and the Global Fund at the same level — a problem that will now be exacerbated. “All Europe seems to be able to dig deep for is migration. Looking inwards will do nothing except make the EU increasingly irrelevant for the vast majority of partners in the world,” the statement adds. It has been signed by Global Citizen, Pandemic Action Network, Aidsfonds, Global Health Advocates, Plan International, DSW, Save the Children, CARE International, and Oxfam. The European Commission has been asked to respond to the criticism. The creation of the NDICI in 2021, incorporating financing done for decades by the European Development Fund, has long been criticized as a shift to using development spending as a mechanism to curb migration. Some €19.3 billion was already targeted at the EU’s southern and eastern “neighbourhoods,” including many countries of origin or transit for migrants heading to Europe. Last week, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said “managing our external borders” was her second priority after Ukraine in adjusting the budget, saying: “Greater ambition on migration must be backed with appropriate funding at European level.” EU leaders are determined to force through the package on Feb. 1, possibly using national guarantees from member states to deliver the aid to Ukraine if Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán continues to veto the use of EU funds.