GUE/NGL shadow Lola Sánchez Caldentey has expressed her disappointment after the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted to approve the resolution on the New European Consensus on Development today.
 
This came in light of MEPs from four political groups expressed concerns over the future direction of EU’s development and cooperation policy.
 
Having worked on this file alongside the Greens, EFDD and ALDE, Sánchez Caldentey voted to abstain in the plenary today as a compromise, and has described the new Consensus as a ‘scam’.
 
Commenting on the outcome, the Spanish MEP said:
 
“The new Consensus for Development is a regressive step in our international commitments. Inter-institutional negotiations have proved once again that the Parliament´s legitimate and democratic position is usually ignored,” said Sánchez Caldentey.
 
“We will no longer pursue policies that would reduce poverty and inequalities. Instead, the EU’s strategic interests will take priority. A clear example of this is the establishment of conditionality for development assistance in exchange for collaboration on border and migration controls.”
 
“So not only is the new Consensus a scam to the taxpayers, it’s a perverse use of development funds. It bribes third countries off in order to externalise our borders whilst we turn a blind eye to our obligations to asylum rights,” she concluded.