Brussels, 28/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - EU27 development ministers will be gathering at an informal meeting to be held in Prague on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 January under the chairmanship of Jan Kohout, Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Foreign Minister. Main items on their discussion agenda will be the impact of the financial crisis on developing countries, access by developing countries to sustainable energy sources, and the eastern dimension of European development cooperation. Many other subjects, such as the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and the EU's support for democratic management of developing countries will also be tackled during this informal meeting to be attended by Louis Michel, European Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner, who has just returned from a mission in the Middle East. Josep Borrel, Chairman of the European Parliament's development committee, has also agreed to attend. Invitations to take part in the discussions have also been made to other prominent personalities. Philippe le Houerou, Vice-President of the World Bank, and Mario Amano, OECD Deputy Secretary General, will thus be contributing to the debate on the financial crisis and on reform of the multilateral financial system. Zinaïda Grecianii, Prime Minister of Moldova, will take part in the discussion on cooperation between the EU and partners of Eastern Europe.
Financial crisis and development. Although the crisis has not for now greatly affected the developing countries, the Czech EU Presidency is aware that its fall-out on the real economy will be considerable, resulting either from the slowdown in trade or the fall in private investment flow. In this context, it considers it is all the more important that the European Union and the fund donors should honour their commitments in terms of development aid volume, quality and effectiveness. Ministers will be invited to take a stance on this subject, and to study the possibility of taking development aspects into account when re-founding the international financial architecture. In this context, they will also reflect on the possibility of giving more weight to what developing countries have to say during the debates on this reform.
Sustainable energy sources at local level. Ministers will be invited to discuss how the EU can facilitate developing countries' access to sustainable energy sources at local level and within the framework of existing initiatives. Stakes are considerable as access to energy sources is essential to trigger economic activity and the fight against poverty in developing countries. The Czech Presidency stresses that decentralised energy sources, such as solar energy, wind power and biomass, may be beneficial particularly in geographically remote regions.
Democratic governance of public affairs. Minsters will discuss ways to strengthen the EU's support for efforts being made by developing countries to set a quality public administration in place based on respect of democracy and human rights, as well as effective administration and rule of law. (A.N./transl.jl)