At the meeting of the Council for Foreign Affairs (CAE) in Brussels on Friday last, Luxembourg Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Action Romain Schneider said he regretted the New European Consensus on Development’s move away from its original objectives.
At the conclusion of the Council meeting, minsters adopted the new European Consensus on Development, which will be signed by the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament on 7 June 2017 at the European Development Days.
For Luxembourg, Minister Schneider made a unilateral statement in the minutes of the meeting to say that Luxembourg regrets that the new consensus has moved away from the main objective of its raison d'être, eradication of poverty.
The meeting ranged over issues in the Middle East and African-Caribbean-Pacific regions. At the start of the meeting,ministers first discussed the serious humanitarian situation in Africa and Yemen with a threat of famine which, according to recent United Nations estimates, could affect nearly 20 million people in four countries, Somalia, Sudan South Africa, Nigeria and Yemen.
Conflicts and violence in the countries concerned hamper the delivery of humanitarian assistance. An underlying theme of the discussion was the link between development and humanitarianism, and in particular how to make this interaction more operational at European level, while respecting the mandates and principles of action of each. The Ministers adopted specific Conclusions on this point.
Minister Schneider expressed concern at the scale of these humanitarian crises and recalled that this year Luxembourg has disbursed more than €5 million in humanitarian funding for the affected countries in the Horn of Africa, Africa and Yemen. The minister joined his European colleagues in appealing for a preserve of a humanitarian space and insisting on respect for international humanitarian law.
Ministers took stock of the ongoing work on the current EU-ACP partnership which expires in 2020. Minister Schneider voted in favour of a future comprehensive chapeau agreement with substantive content and regional agreements adapted to the specific needs and potential of each of the three Africa - Caribbean - Pacific regions. A future agreement should also include a development cooperation component, the application of which would, however, be strongly differentiated.
Development ministers also adopted a number of Council conclusions, including those on the legacy and follow-up of the European Year of Development (2015) and on the creation of a sustainable value chain in the textile industry.
Image: Minister Romain Schneider with Zanda Kalnina-Lukaöevica, parliamentary secretary of state for European affairs
