In a report that names and shames some of the European Union's richest states, a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have accused the likes of Germany and Italy of keeping their purse strings tightened when it comes to helping the world's poorest countries

The report released on Monday by Action Aid, Eurodad and Oxfam accuses Europe's misers in the wake of the Group of Seven (G7) meeting during which the world's wealthiest nations pledged to rid the world's poorest countries of their crippling debt but failed to meet Africa's demand for immediate action.

The European relief agencies published a damning critique of member states' efforts to address the issue, saying that G7 countries such as Germany and Italy did too little to meet a United Nations target to reduce poverty in the world by 2015.

EU majority are "way off track"

The combined data showed that only four EU states had fulfilled a promise made in 1970 by the world's rich countries to give 0.7 percent of their gross national income (GNI) as foreign aid. "The other 21 EU states are still a long way off track in terms of their promise ... this is inexcusable," the report stated.

Those EU states that avoided the report's scorn included Luxembourg, which gives 0.8 percent of GNI in aid, and Sweden, which has also met the 0.7 percent target, saying these in particular deserved "gold stars" for their efforts. The report also praised the Netherlands for giving 0.81 percent, but said its gold star was at risk because the government wanted to count security-related expenditures as aid.

Even euro champ gets stingier

Europe's "leading champion" was Denmark, which currently pays the most of all EU states with 0.84 percent. However, there were reservations in the report as to Denmark's future intentions as the Danish government had been cutting down on aid spending since 2001, when it gave 1.03 percent.

"The EU must take positive action on three issues: improving the quantity and quality of international aid; easing the burden of unsustainable debt; and making the rules for world trade fairer," the report stated.

Germany's goal overly optimistic, says report

Singling out German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the leader of the EU's largest economy, for particular criticism, the report said that Schröder's promise at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Germany would reach the 0.7 percent goal in the "medium term" was optimistic at best. "On current trends, Germany will not reach the 0.7 percent until 2087, which is a long way from being in the 'medium term'," the report said.

Italy also found itself in the firing line: "Italy is one of the world's wealthiest nations, yet it gives only a miserly 0.17 percent of its GNI in aid."

G7 indecision compounds aid misery

Despite the efforts of British Finance Minister Gordon Brown, who presented a plan for helping Africa in what he called a "make or break year," the G7 failed to agree on the proposals which would have freed up an extra €38.4 billion ($50 billion) a year for poor countries and completely write off their debts. An agreement was eventually reached on the subject of debt relief but the increase in cash remained contentious.