The European Union’s position on the global development agenda post-2015 will be decided by the end of December. As the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lapo Pistelli, announced at the press conference after today’s meeting of European Union development ministers in Florence, the ministers for development cooperation have given Italy a full mandate to adopt formal conclusions. “This wasn’t a result that we could take for granted, and we’ll need to work very hard to achieve our objectives”.
The ministers also agreed that EXPO 2015 is not an Italian but a European opportunity – it will be the last universal exposition to be held in Europe for the next 25 years. As Pistelli observed, “Italy has always attached great importance to this event, and there’s an understanding at European level that it will be an opportunity to drive the global development negotiations”.
Commission document on immigration and development
The development ministers also agreed to organise the European Union’s first initiative for dialogue with the countries of the Horn of Africa during the Italian Presidency. They have submitted a suggestion to the Commission for a document to be drawn up by the end of the year on immigration and development problems. As Pistelli was pleased to note, “From the government’s point of view, this Council has achieved not 100% but 150% of its objective”.
Trust fund: 64 million euros for Central African Republic
An agreement for a “trust fund” for development initiatives in the Central African Republic (CAR) was also signed at today’s meeting in Florence. The violence afflicting the Republic has so far caused 700,000 people to flee their homes. The fund, entitled “bekou”, which means “hope” in the language of the Central African Republic, will initially amount to 64 million euros, and comes in addition to the 84 million already earmarked by the European Commission.
Signing ceremony
Participants in the signing ceremony included Deputy Minister Lapo Pistelli, representing the current Presidency; the EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs; and the development under-secretaries and ministers of France, Holland and Germany.
