Brussels, 02/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - The global economic crisis and the coming into effect of the European External Action Service (EEAS) are the two new elements that make up the backdrop to the fifth edition of the European Development Days to open in Brussels on 6 December. Participants will reflect on adapting development aid to the new realities of Europe and the world as a whole (see EUROPE 10250). The annual gathering of global development stakeholders will be kicked off by José Manuel Barroso, European Commission President, Jerzy Buzek, European Parliament President, Madhav Kumar, Prime Minister of Nepal who chairs the group of the 49 least advanced countries at the United Nations, Dr Lesley-Anne Knight, EU Ambassador for the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF Director.
Thomas Boni Yayi, President of Benin, Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of Tanzania, and Jacques Chirac, former French President, have announced that they will attend. Belgium, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland and Slovenia, as well as Sweden and the United Kingdom and Haiti will be represented by their prime ministers. The second edition of the European Report on Development (ERD) will be officially launched on Tuesday 7 December during the second day of the event, to be closed by Yves Leterme, Belgian Prime Minister, and Andris Piebalgs, European Development Commissioner. (http: //eudevdays.eu) (A.N./transl.jl)