Brussels, 09/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Development Council to meet on Friday 10 November in Brussels will centre on debates regarding general policy guidelines or certain operational aspects of the Community's development policy. The situation in several African countries experiencing conflict or affected by political instability (Liberia, Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Côte d'Ivoire) will be discussed during a dinner on Thursday evening, the day before the session. No formal decision is expected. The work will be chaired by Charles Josselin, French Minister for Cooperation. Poul Nielson will represent the European Commission. The points on the agenda are:
1. General statement. The Council will discuss with a view to its adoption the general policy statement prepared by the Presidency for laying new bases for European development policy, and in order to give it greater clarity. This statement will make the reduction of poverty its main objective, will identify six sectors for priority intervention and will describe the most appropriate methods for strengthening aid effectiveness while ensuring greater visibility compared to the status of leading international aid donor in which the EU may pride itself.
By submitting to this exercise for the first time, the ministers of the Fifteen EU States will respond to a recommendation set out by the Council in 1995 (following the overall assessment that it had made of Community aid) and, above all, by the German, British and French ministers in a joint article published in the press in March 1999. The general policy statement follows the Commission's communication of March this year on the new European development policy guidelines which aimed at re-centring Community action on areas where the Union has added value.
2. Action plan. The Council will hear Poul Nielson present the action plan which must follow the general policy statement in order to give it more body, and the ministers will hold a first exchange of views.
3. Assessment of Community development programmes and instruments. The Commission will report on further action to be given to the conclusions of the Council of 21 May 1999 in this connection. The question will then be examined in the broader context of reform of the Union's external aid management.
4. Harmonised framework for country-by-country strategy documents. The Council is expected to adopt conclusions. The Council conclusion of May 1999 on complementarity between Community development aid and that of the Member States is at the origin of the work undertaken on this subject on the basis of a working paper from Commission services.
5. Transmissible diseases and poverty. The Council is expected to adopt a resolution on the Commission's communication concerning accelerated action for combating AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, which are an obstacle to development and a cause of poverty in developing countries (see EUROPE of 21 September, p.9).
6. Fight against anti-personnel mines. The Council will be informed of the state of progress of work on the draft regulation presented by the Commission on 14 March for improving coherency, increasing efficiency and for the continuity of demining activity and the coordination of such activity at Community and international level, by bringing under one and the same instrument (legal basis Article 179, development cooperation, as this scourge affects LDC in particular) all the initiatives that have hitherto been dispersed. The Parliament took a stance at first reading on this text on 25 October, too recently for the Council to have time to examine the some thirty amendments to be made.
7. Links between urgency, rehabilitation and development. On the basis of a Commission document, the Council will hold a policy debate that should guide the Commission in its preparation of a formal communication to Council.
8. Co-development. The Council will hold a debate on the basis of a note from the Presidency aimed at following up the Erupean Council's conclusions reached in Tampere on migration.
9. Climate change. At a request expressed by the Netherlands and backed by Sweden, the Council will hold an exchange of views on the Union's negotiating position during the sixth conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (see yesterday's EUROPE, pp.11/12).
10. United Nations Conference on the less advanced countries. The Council will be informed by the Commission and the Presidency of the state of progress in preparing the third conference to be held in Brussels in May 2001.
The Council will also informally consider (over dinner) the following topics: a) sustainable transport in development cooperation (presentation of the Commission's Communication); b) Zimbabwe (the Danish minister will report back on his recent visit to the country); c) Somalia (Italy's intervention); d) fisheries and the fight against poverty (presentation of the Communication adopted by the Commission on Wednesday (see yesterday's EUROPE p. 14); c) Liberia (the Presidency will report on the programming of aid to the country); f) the "digital gap" in information technology (Presidency's report); g) textiles (requested by the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark).