Brussels, 11/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - Development NGOs have reacted fairly positively to the announcement, on Wednesday 10 September, of a portfolio dedicated to international cooperation and development in the Juncker Commission - a portfolio allocated to Neven Mimica, the current commissioner for consumer policy (S&D, Croatia). If Mimica passes his “recruitment exam” he will have big challenges to address, the NGOs were quick to warn.
In the opinion of CONCOR (the European NGO confederation for relief and development bringing together over 1,800 NGOs), the main challenges are the independence of a true development policy and improving the coherence of policies.
“The future development commissioner has a big responsibility to make sure that development does not become second best to foreign policy interests. It will be crucial therefore that the new development and humanitarian commissioners will work closely together with the new high representative. There's a great opportunity to improve coherence and coordination between the different institutions and directorates in the new Commission”, said Sabine Terlecki.
CONCORD also hopes that Mimica - if confirmed as commissioner by the European Parliament - will “champion” civil society organisations' role and will play a leading part in making the EU an influential player in the formulation of a universal and sustainable post-2015 framework.
The same expectation is held by ONE (the NGO taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease in developing countries). “2015, the European Year for Development, is a great occasion for the future commissioner to show the EU's commitment to end the injustice of extreme poverty. Moreover, with the clock ticking on the Millennium Development Goals' 2015 deadline, it will fall on Mr Mimica to feed into an ambitious global post-2015 agenda and to stimulate development finance in order to ensure that the world puts an end to extreme poverty by 2030”, says Tamira Gunzburg, Acting Director at The ONE Campaign in Brussels. (AN)