EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs has stressed the need to strengthen the profile of development cooperation ahead of the adoption of the new EU Financial Perspectives framework (covering 2014-2020). The European Commission is already preparing proposals, to be put forward in April 2011, for the Financial Perspectives. Proposals for new financial instruments, including the development cooperation instrument, are also being prepared and will be put forward soon thereafter. These will determine the direction of EU external relations in the future. During a debate with members of the European Parliament’s Development Committee on 13 July, Commissioner Piebalgs stressed that in the absence of a legally-binding set of commitments to enforce the spirit of the Lisbon Treaty, there is urgent need to strengthen relevant aspects of the European Consensus on Development including making some aspects of it, such as common approaches to programming, “acquis communautaire” (the total body of EU law accumulated thus far). DG Development is currently preparing a draft text on this proposal for an inter-service consultation in early September. This will provide input for a “green paper” to be discussed in a public consultation on revisions to the European Consensus, to be launched on 13 October.
July 26, 2010
