Brussels, 22/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - Preparation of the EU position for the third UN conference on post-2015 development financing (Addis Ababa, 13-16 July) will be the main issue and certainly the most difficult discussion at the Foreign Affairs Council when it discusses development in Brussels on the afternoon on Tuesday 26 May. This work session, which will comprise a number of exchanges of view, will be followed by a dinner, at which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be the guest of honour, where discussion will focus on the framework and objectives of post-2015 sustainable development to be adopted in New York in September.
Financing of development after 2015: The Council is expected to adopt conclusions ahead of the Addis Ababa conference at which agreement is to be reached on how to implement the post-2015 universal goals. The conclusions are expected to re-state the EU objective of collectively allocating 0.7% of GNI to official development aid (the objective to which the EU subscribed in 2005 for 2015 but which it has not realised). The whole difficulty in the task is “agreeing on a realistic date, and the division of effort among the member states will remain to be discussed”, a high-ranking EU official confided on Friday 22 May. France and Germany are the big names in the group of countries yet to adopt a timetable for achieving the 0.7% and for allocating 0.15% on their GDP by 2020 and 0.2% by 2025 to the least developed countries.
Development NGOs in the CONCORD confederation call on ministers to - recommit to the 0.7% collective goal by 2020, backed by national timetables; - take action to increase aid to the least developed countries and commit to the current UN target of 0.15-0.2% and set the more ambitious target of providing at least 50% of official development aid to these countries.
Gender equality in development: The Council will hold an exchange of views on how to promote and protect the rights of women and girls in EU development policies and programmes, in preparation for the adoption of an action plan during the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council.
Migration and development: Ministers will hold a fresh exchange of views on the very close links between migration and development and on the need to tackle the causes of migration that has led to the crisis in the Mediterranean.
Security and Development: Ahead of June's European Council, ministers will hold an exchange of views on the Commission communication on this issue adopted at the start of May. (Aminata Niang)