Brussels, 23/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - A mammoth agenda awaits EU development ministers for their meeting in Brussels on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 May 2008, but it is the EU's role as a global development partner in 2008, a crucial year for the mid-term progress report on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that will dominate the meeting. On this issue, the ministers will be urged by Slovenian secretary of state Andres Ster to prepare their contribution to the European Council of 19-20 June 2008, bearing in mind that they are not meeting their promises of the year 2005 to increase the level, effectiveness and quality of EU aid, despite the fact that the EU can still pride itself on being the world's biggest donor (see EUROPE 9631).
The humanitarian crisis in Burma after cyclone Nargis, the economic partnerships that should be concluded this year between the EU and six regions of the ACP group (Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific) and children's rights in EU foreign action, will also come under discussion. EU Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel will represent the Commission at this meeting, which will start over dinner on Monday evening with an informal debate on women in armed conflicts, and the world fund to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The world food crisis will be informally discussed over dinner on Tuesday 26 May.
EU, global development partnership: the Council will discuss the EU's progress in contributing to achievement of the MDGs in 2015 against a backdrop where EU aid fell for the first time in 2007 to 0.38% of GNP (€46.1bn, down from €47bn in 2006), half-way through the MDG achievement timeline and in the light of a communication published by the European Commission on 9 April 2008 to encourage member states to keep their promises (see EUROPE 9639). The ministers will be looking at how to speed up the reform process to make aid more effective ahead of a high level OECD Forum in Accra on 2- 4 September 2008, and meet the Monterrey promises (a 2002 UN summit on funding development held in Monterrey, Mexico) ahead of a high level UN meeting in New York on 25 September 2008 and an international conference on funding development to be held in Doha, Qatar, on 29 November - 2 December 2008. The conclusions document to be adopted will streamline the EU's contribution to this global challenge. The Council is expected to stress that it is still possible to meet all the MDGs in all regions of the world in the next seven years, including sub-Saharan Africa, a region which is lagging alarmingly behind, as long as concerted and sustained action is immediately undertaken. The main areas covered by the conclusions document will include the need for a strong reaffirmation of political commitment from governments to boost international aid; the EU's determination to ensure the Monterrey consensus is implemented; implementation of the EU trade aid strategy (€2bn a year from now until 2010, most of it earmarked for ACPs), the need for coherence and synergy among all EU development work (combating climate change, biofuels, immigration and research); implementing the world climate change alliance; and the EU's collective reaction to the hike in food prices in the context of development and humanitarian aid.
Economic partnership agreements: The Council will discuss the EPA negotiations, which are making slow progress. No EPAs have yet been signed, not even the full regional deal initialled by CARIFORUM (see EUROPE 9645). The EPAs are still being criticised by NGOs and the Socialists at the European Parliament who called in Strasbourg on 22 May 2008 for the re-opening of the talks. The Council conclusions and practical recommendations in order to ensure the conclusion regional agreements incorporating the interim accords already initialled with some countries. The Council is expected to affirm the importance of a suitable follow-up system to assess the impact of the EPAs on development and trade and progress in implementing them. These conclusions will pave the way for the position the EU will be defending at the joint EU-ACP Council in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 12-13 June 2008.
Burma: A fortnight after the extraordinary meeting on 13 May on the humanitarian tragedy following cyclone Nargis (see EUROPE 9659), the Council will again discuss the situation and the way the Burmese junta is ignoring appeals for it to open its borders to a huge international aid operation.
Children's rights: The Council will discuss the promotion and protection of children's rights through development cooperation and will draw up guidelines to improve the way children's rights are taken into account (an issue beloved of the Slovenian Presidency) in development cooperation and humanitarian aid work.
Farm staples: In the light of the current hike in food prices, the Council will adopt a conclusions document on implementing the EU action plan to help poor countries dependent on farm commodities to cope with price fluctuations on the world market (the action plan includes a section on 'basic farm products, dependence and poverty', and the EU-Africa partnership to back development of the cotton industry). (A.N.)