10/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - EEAS accused by Concord of neglecting anti-poverty objectives. The EU is currently neglecting anti-poverty objectives within its new foreign policy arm, the European External Action Service (EEAS), according to a report published on Tuesday 10 January by Concord, the European confederation of relief and development NGOs. Concord deplores the fact that the EEAS prefers to focus on counter-terrorism and security policies, especially in the Sahel region and the Horn of Africa, rather than on long term development. Klavdija Cernilogar, of Concord, says: “Catherine Ashton and her colleagues need to realise that, while poverty remains, conflict and instability will always find fertile ground”. He goes on to say: “One year on, there is still no clarity on how the European Commission and the EEAS will coordinate €11 billion in development programming. Our report shows that competition rather than cooperation prevails between the two institutions.” (OL/transl.jl)