The industrial countries must meet their responsibility to create global economic conditions which also give the developing countries a fair chance. They must in particular open their markets. In the European Union, Germany has therefore always urged that Europe open its markets wider to the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. In elaborating national policies the industrial countries must give more attention to their impact on developing countries and increase their assistance in terms of both quality and quantity for the poorer developing countries in particular. Relations between the European Union and the developing countries are already featuring prominently in Germany’s foreign and security policy.

Germany has increasingly participated in international efforts to contain trouble spots and remove sources of crisis. The humanitarian aid it has provided in recent years (for the Kurds in Iraq, for Somalia, for the victims of the civil war in former Yugoslavia and for the refugees from Rwanda, for instance) is considerably more than in previous years. Between 1991 and 1995, funds totaling DM 877 million were made available from the budget of the Federal Foreign Office alone. Germany’s overall expenditure for humanitarian aid (relief operations of the Armed Forces, food aid, measures undertaken by private German relief organizations, participation in relief measures of the EU, the United Nations and other international organiza-tions) was several times the aforementioned amount. By dint of its own history, Germany is particularly committed to freedom, democracy and human rights-All over the world, therefore, its policy is based on respect for human rights and human dignity.