Under-secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Benedetto Della Vedova will attend the informal meeting of EU ministers for Development and Trade in Amsterdam today and tomorrow.
During the meeting chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, the ministers will exchange opinions about the development of a new EU Global Strategy, relations between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries after 2020, when the current EU-ACP Cotonou Agreement expires, and the interaction between migration and development. In addition, the EU Trade ministers will meet to discuss global value chains.
“In adopting a new strategy for external action, which is currently the focus of a careful reflection process in the Member States to be concluded by June, the EU will have to take into account priorities, such as the Mediterranean, migration, and the Western Balkans. The new strategy will also have the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations as its reference framework,” Mr. Della Vedova said.
“The starting point is to respond to global challenges collectively. In the field of migration, development cooperation plays a key role in stemming the flow of economic migrants and alleviating the suffering of refugees and displaced persons in areas of conflict. With the coordinated actions of its Member States and Community budget initiatives, the EU is able to make a difference,” he underlined.
“In this context, Italy is ready to do its share. I am thinking, in particular, of the crisis in Syria and the Italian cooperation’s actions in favour of Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, which have been instrumental in preventing a generation of Syrian children from remaining out of school and becoming easy prey for extremists. Italy will participate with a substantial emergency aid package as well as with longer term initiatives in the upcoming Syria Donors Conference in London,” Mr. Della Vedova said.