Europeans drink more than 700m cups of coffee every day. The continent accounts for nearly half of all world coffee imports – more than 3m tonnes each year.

But how much of the price of every cup of coffee sold is paid to coffee-producing nations? It is usually less than €0.02. That is less than 1% of what you pay for your coffee in most coffee shops, restaurants or hotels.

In a Starbucks coffee cup, with an extra shot of caffeine, the payment to coffee producers is about 2% of the price the consumer pays.

So what does the coffee value chain say about Europe and about its understanding of economic “partnership” with its former colonies?

To me, it should say that it is high time for real partnership. It is time for shared value, not for false claims to aid the poor.

If European politicians and consumers want to eradicate poverty, they should pay €0.10 a cup to coffee-producing regions

Most coffee imported by Europe comes as unroasted green beans. And it is priced at a level that perpetuates poverty in coffee-producing nations. Most coffee growers are either living in poverty or in extreme poverty. And in case you’re wondering, Fairtrade is not a solution. It is not a path to the eradication of poverty but only a measure to ease it.

Vast amounts of coffee are drunk by politicians at the European parliament just as it is at the Houses of Parliament in London, by elected members of the Bundestag, at the National Congress in Madrid, the National Assembly in Paris, Palazzo Madama and Montecitorio in Rome and all other parliaments in Europe.

But it is interesting to note that at the European parliament in Brussels, the traditional coffee service has been stopped in most meeting rooms and replaced by 20 Nespresso machines.

Martin Schulz, the president of the European parliament, refused to call a halt to this odd situation (which internally is now referred to as Nespressogate) even after being warned in writing more than a year ago by the joint leaders of the Green Group that coffee farmers in Latin America are facing “a real hunger crisis”.

Coffee farmers and their families are supposed to benefit from what are called partnership agreements between the EU and its member states’ former colonies. But every time MEPs drink a cup of Nespresso coffee they are sending more money to Nespresso and Nestlé than to dirt-poor coffee farmers who rely on the crop. This is appalling. The “shared value” in coffee is symbolic of a 21st-century colonialism where the vast bulk of profits are kept in developed countries while most of the hard work, sacrifice and risks are heaped on coffee-producing nations.

According to the German magazine Stern, the value chain of every Nespresso capsule allows for enormous profits for Nestle after marketing costs are deducted.

Nespresso is an example of how neither Nestlé, Nespresso nor the European parliament understand the true meaning of trading “partnership”.

During the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Paul Bulcke, Nestlé’s chief executive bragged before the TV cameras about how Nestlé believed in “shared value”, but refused to answer my direct question about how many cents of every Nespresso capsule are shared with coffee farmers.

Europe’s political leaders all enjoy their dose of caffeine without appearing to care much about the exploitative conditions under which it is produced. They know that the value chain of the coffee industry is beneficial for Europeans, whose companies produce tens of billions in added value and taxes for Europe every year.

As they sip their comforting brew, they may reflect on the claim that Europe is the largest donor of foreign aid, and how 2015 is supposedly the “European year of development”.

They may even sip their macchiato or cappuccino while reading some of the thousands of pages of official documents and articles about how European nations and the EU institutions are working to strengthen “partnerships” with less developed nations.

A major summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states (Celac) will take place in Brussels in June and is being publicised by Brussels in a way which suggests that development, aid and partnerships are the core drivers of all the EU’s actions.

The truth is that the coffee consumed at centres of European power is an irrefutable reminder that politicians in Europe still do not understand “partnership” . Instead of bragging about the EU being the “largest donor of aid” they are actually the largest beneficiaries from unfair compensation to the producers of coffee and of many other European imports. The aid given is actually a tiny fraction of the billions made in unfair compensation to producers in their former colonies.

If European politicians and consumers want to eradicate poverty every time they drink a cup of coffee they should send €0.10 a cup as compensation to the people living in coffee-producing regions. I am certain heads of state and governments in the EU, and all Eurocrats, can afford 10 cents a cup. I am also certain most European coffee lovers could too. This is not aid or charity. It is an act of justice.