Brussels, 21/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - Translating the EU's ambition to make a significant contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Objectives into reality will be a question for the EU ministers with responsibility for development issues, at the informal Council, to be held on Monday and Tuesday in Leeds (United Kingdom). Hillary Benn, British Secretary of State for International development, will chair the session. Louis Michel, Commissioner for Development policy, Peter Mandelson, Commissioner for Trade, Luisa Morgantini, president of the committee on development of the EP and Mark Malloch Brown, chef de cabinet of Koffi Annan, will take part in this joint reflection. Donald Kabeujka, president of the African Development Bank, will be invited to Tuesday's lunch. Here are the questions the ministers will be called upon to answer, guided by a Presidency questionnaire, on four subjects:
New EU political statement on development policy (joint Parliament/Council/Commission or "Brussels consensus" adopted last July)
Making trade work for development. What can be done in order to ensure that the EU's position at WTO negotiations leads to a positive result for development in the field of agriculture? How can the EU honour its commitment taken at Gleneagles (G8, last July) to provide more substantial aid to trade in order to reinforce the trade capacities of countries with low incomes and contributed to the adjustment costs? How can it be guaranteed that the economic partnership agreements negotiated with the Africa/Caribbean/Pacific regions genuinely favour development?
Strategic partnership for Africa. How can the EU's world leadership in terms of development be used to ensure that the strategy for Africa becomes an effective integral part of other international activities? In what fields can the EU use its expertise to feed into the development of the continent? How can the implementation, controls and an effective and coherent follow-up be guaranteed?
Reform of the international architecture of development. Does the system have the resources it needs to provide more generous and efficient aid? What are the challenges inherent in doubling aid between now and 2010 for the EU, for the international system, and for the developing countries? How can this increased aid support developing countries and held them to achieve the millennium development objectives? What practical measures can the EU take in order to bring about a more radical structural change to the international development system?
The ministers will also have the opportunity, over the two days, to discuss many other subjects, such as the food crisis in southern Africa, the situation in Darfur, and the earthquake in southern Asia.