Development policy on the GAERC agenda in October – the NGOs mobilized

The Ministers for Development, Trade and Foreign Affairs will meet in Luxemburg on 16-17.10. For example, aid effectiveness, policy coherence and the EU-Africa strategy are on the agenda of the 2-day meeting.

On 16th October the Development Ministers will also discuss migration and development at an informal dinner.

The Ministers for Development and Foreign Affairs will meet for a joint session on 17th October to discuss ways of improving the policy coherence for development within the Union. This makes part of the Presidency’s objective to enhance the effectiveness, consistency and visibility of the EU’s external relations. The Ministers will also discuss the role of development policy in the overall framework of the Union’s external relations. The aim is that, in the future, the Council will attach greater emphasis to development issues in its work.

The Ministers for Development and Foreign Affairs will also discuss the implementation of the EU-Africa strategy (December 2005). According to a press release from the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the focus of EU development policy is on Africa, where the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals is causing the most challenges. As a result, the EU is directing even more aid to the African countries.

The Development Ministers will also discuss the Commission communication on good governance and the recently established African Infrastructure Fund. For example the Catholic International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity, CIDSE, has recently criticized the Commission communication. According to a CIDSE press release, the Commission approach is inconsistent with its own principles: In its communication, the Commission defines the standards for good governance without taking into account the southern perspective. CIDSE demands the reopening of the process, so that the notion of good governance could be discussed internationally, with the participation of the civil society.

The GAERC is also supposed to approve the new Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI), mutually agreed upon by the Council of the EU, the Commission and the European parliament.

During the October meeting, also the Ministers for Trade and Development will have their first joint meeting ever in EU history: the aim is to achieve an agreement on the contents and implementation of the EUR 2 billion aid-for-trade package. According to a press release from the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the aim during the Finnish EU-presidency is to improve the coherent handling of EU trade and development policy.

The Finnish NGDO Platform to the EU, KEHYS, is pleased with the arrangement of the joint meeting, but underlines that decisions for development and change are made also in other policy fields.

The NGOs part of the CONCORD umbrella organisation have approached the European Development Ministers with an open letter, where the ministers are reminded of the civil society's position on funding for EU external relations, policy coherence for development and good governance. The NGO delegation will meet with the Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Paula Lehtomäki, on Sunday 15th October.

The Development and Foreign Affairs Ministers’ discussions on policy coherence for development and the effectiveness of the EU external activities can be followed on Tuesday morning the 17th October at the Finnish EU presidency website