Brussels, 20/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - According to the European Commission, the EU is improving the consistency of its development policies - particularly in the areas of agriculture, fisheries, trade and climate change. The Commission nevertheless believes there is room for improvement. Its annual report on progress achieved over the 2013-2015 period (the fifth report of the kind), was presented by the Commission at a launch conference on Monday 19 October. The report will be the subject of the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council, in its Development format, on 26 October.
European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica said that formulating sound policies that take account in their wording of the impact of these policies on developing countries will be decisive for reaching new global objectives. He went on to say that it would be his personal commitment to meet this challenge.
Written into the Treaty of the EU, the need for consistency is aimed at minimising contradictions between different EU policies in order to increase the effectiveness of development cooperation. The drive for consistency was started in 2005, and since 2009 has covered five areas identified as strategic by the Council of the EU - trade and financing, food safety, climate change, migration, and security.
Since 2013 the Council has underlined that the consistency of EU policies will be essential for effective implementation of the world programme for sustainable development which has just been acquired by the UN for 2030. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)