Proposition 53K2923

Projet de loi modifiant la loi du 19 mars 2013 relative à la Coopération au Développement.

General information ¶

Authors

CD&V Steven Vanackere
LE Georges Dallemagne
MR François-Xavier de Donnea
Open Vld Herman De Croo
PS | SP Olivier Henry
Vooruit Bruno Tuybens

Submission date

July 1, 2013

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

economic support financing of aid humanitarian aid non-governmental organisation development aid

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld MR

Abstained from voting

N-VA LDD VB

Party dissidents ¶

• Peter Luykx (CD&V) abstained from voting.

Contact form ¶

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Discussion ¶

July 16, 2013 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

The rapporteur, Ms Ingeborg De Meulemeester, refers to her written report.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, dear colleagues, the new Law on Development Cooperation is only a few months old, but urgent adjustments are apparently necessary, so necessary that the majority that at all praise in one day wanted to hunt through the committee. If we now have to discuss and approve a repair law at the highest speed, we can only conclude that the previous debates delivered poor legislative work.

Nevertheless, I would like to thank my colleagues of the majority, because they confirm my comments that I have formulated with regard to the Law on Development Cooperation of 19 March 2013. The new law was pursued by the committee at the end of last year, so that the former Minister of Development Cooperation, Paul Magnette, could still write it on his palmares. I will not repeat the technical discussions of late 2012 here, but if I remember correctly, the N-VA group had then submitted an amendment to include conditions for NGOs in the law. The Minister’s outrageous response at the time was that those conditions are regulated in decisions, as if our proposal at the time was so unthinkable and unthinkable. We then pointed out the discriminatory nature, by incorporating the conditions for direct and multilateral assistance in the law, but not the conditions for indirect cooperation.

Of course, I support the introduction of conditions for NGOs in the legislation itself. This promotes transparency and increases the support level for development cooperation among our population. However, the way in which this is done in the current reparation law is all but transparent, because in fact the political and ideological corruption is anchored in that law.

On the other hand, the social reality is completely overlooked. About the fourth pillar, initiatives that are not initiated by columns but by citizens, no word is spoken in the current law. These people remain in the cold.

I also want to say a few words about development education. The development education is legally anchored with the current reparation law. However, both education and development cooperation are a competence of the counties. The draft reparation law is thus directly at odds with the agreements in the Lambermont Agreement, through the recovery of powers by the federal level.

Finally, my group requested an opinion from the Council of State on this text. The majority parties did not consider it necessary. I regret this, because there are not only political but also technical uncertainties in the legislation. I hope that in a few months we will not be here again to amend the Law on Development Cooperation again.

My group will abstain in the vote.

Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, this bill brought with the other colleagues of the majority – for whom I thank you – constitutes an important technical text, the adoption of which is urgent.

Technical because it appeared that the applicability of the law of 19 March 2013, which we had passed here even at the end of last year, was hindered by the lack of certain legal bases. Of course, as I specified in the committee, the spirit and scope of the original law are in no way altered by this text. This is important in order to bring this amendment to law into effect within the time necessary to execute its decisions, in particular for the granting of grants to vectors of non-governmental cooperation.

The urgency, on the other hand, was justified in the interests of all actors of Belgian development cooperation, including those of non-governmental cooperation.

Some people, like you, may complain about the procedure. However, the current situation must find a legal solution before penalizing a whole sector. This bill is based on a resolutely oriented approach towards a desire to professionalize the sector and, above all, it was drafted in good understanding with him. All provisions of this bill, including those relating to the transitional period, have previously been the subject of in-depth discussion and consultation with the various stakeholders.

The main objective of this text is to introduce, in the Act of 19 March 2013, the rules on grants from the various actors of development cooperation, both in terms of non-governmental cooperation and humanitarian aid. Except in cases where the grant is subject to a special provision in the general budget of expenditure, the authorisation of the grantor must be subject to organic legislation fixing the nature of the grant.

The basis for any grant and the conditions for its granting must be determined by the legislator. It is therefore necessary that the legislation set out the essential elements of the grant, i.e. mainly the beneficiaries of the grant, its object and the subsidized activities, as well as the essential rules of granting.

This is exactly what we have done with this proposal. By this text, we are replacing some of the too broad authorizations to the King, provided for by the law of 19 March, by conditions for granting approvals and subsidies by providing a legal basis for the resolutions that will be taken in execution of this proposal.

To conclude, Mr. Speaker, I would like to add that, by adopting this bill, the House will provide a legal basis for the resolutions enabling the implementation of the law of 19 March last year, an essential implementation given the objectives of the law which had received broad support from our assembly. A law that can really make significant progress in terms of development aid. Now it is up to us to ensure its effective implementation.

For all these reasons, I hope that I will be able to count on your support for the benefit of Belgian development cooperation and, of course, its various actors working for a more just and solidary world.

I will be brief, since Mr. Henry has just explained the essential scope of this bill which is extremely technical. I would like to thank the rapporteurs, Ms. De Meulemeester and Mr. by Henry.

The basis is the opinion of the State Council, which I have already answered in the committee.

This will provide a stronger legal basis for the various decisions that will be made. I will not be longer on this subject. The same goes for humanitarian aid.

In conclusion, the goal is to reassure and have a stronger legal basis.