EU aid official calls on member nations to meet pledges to boost aid spending

The European Union's aid chief warned EU nations on Wednesday to increase their assistance to poor countries to meet promises to halve extreme poverty around the world by 2015.

Development Commissioner Louis Michel said the EU's credibility as the world's largest aid donor was at stake with only a half dozen years remaining to meet a United Nations goal to fight poverty and boost education and health care for the world's poorest.

Michel presented plans to better coordinate the 27 national policies and various EU-wide aid programs.

"We know what we must do: increase our aid spending to meet targets and then make every euro count," Michel …