7 In 2005, encouraged by a wave of support from millions of Europeans, EU member states collectively agreed to establish timetables to increase their ODA towards 0.7%. This was a historic step, as it was the first concrete plan made by a group of developed countries to deliver on the 0.7% commitment, first made in the United Nations General Assembly in 1970. Coming hot on the heels of the Millennium Review Summit and agreement of the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development (FfD), this step also promised to usher in a new era for EU development assistance. The timetables adopted in 2005 establish aid targets separately for the group of the old 15 EU member states and the new 12 EU member states, some of whom have also decided to adopt their own stricter timetable of aid increases (see table 1). In addition to the EU targets, the 2005 G8 Gleneagles Summit saw this group of developed countries - which includes 4 EU member states - commit to increase aid by $50 billion a year by 2010, with at least $25 billion of this increase going to Africa. This latter promise reinforced the European commitments made in the Council Conclusions of May 2005 and the Brussels Declaration of 2001 to direct 50% of aid increases to sub-Saharan Africa and to deliver 0.15% or 0.20% of GNI as aid to the Least Developed Countries. 21,i • Promises to deliver better aid Ministers from developed and developing countries recognised in 2005 that “while the volumes of aid and other development resources must increase to achieve these goals [Millennium Development Goals], aid effectiveness must increase significantly as well to support partner country efforts to strengthen governance and improve development performance”. 22 The need for better aid resulted in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Somewhat limited from its inception, the Declaration was reviewed during the High Level Forum on aid Effectiveness held in Accra in 2008 and ownership was placed at the heart of the original agreement “to develop a genuine partnership, with developing countries clearly in charge of their own development processes”. 23 A study conducted by the European Commission shows that the implementation of the European aid effectiveness agenda could generate efficiency gains of up to €6bn a year. 24 This amount represents over 10% of the EU’s development budget and means that full implementation of the Aid Effectiveness commitments would immediately have a positive impact on developing countries. European countries claim that “[they] have an obligation to the world's poor to make the most of every cent spent on development”. 25 If they are serious about this statement, they need to start delivering on their aid quantity and quality commitments without further delay. 2. European aid quantity and quality commitments Table 1. EU ODA quantity commitments Target (ODA in % of GNI) Deadline EU collective target 0.56% 2010 EU-15 individual targets 0.51% 2010 0.7% 2015 EU-12 individual targets 0.17% 2010 0.33% 2015 Countries with more ambitious targets Belgium 0.7% 2010 Denmark 0.8% 2010 Ireland 0.7% 2012 (now 2015) ii Luxembourg 1% 2010 Netherlands 0.8% 2010 Sweden 1% 2006 UK 0.7% 2013 Countries which have lowered their commitments Estonia 0.1% 2010 Greece 0.35% 2010 Latvia 0.1% 2010 i The original wording says GNP, but in 2001 the WB made the decision of substituting GNP with GNI. ii An official document released in December 2009 now postpones the 0.7% target until 2015. A i d q u a n t i t y a n d q u a l i t y