25/2/2005
London Consultations On EU's Development Agenda

Louis Michel, the Commissioner responsible for the EU's development policy, visited London this week to meet the British Government, including Gordon Brown the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, and to give evidence to a British Parliamentary Committee. The visit was part of the consultation exercise that Mr Michel is presently undertaking to secure the best possible evolution of policies on development and international co-operation. Mr Michel said he was “favourably impressed” by Gordon Brown’s plans for an International Finance Facility and for multi-lateral debt relief and was increasingly persuaded by the political force of the arguments.

The Commissioner additionally stressed his support for putting Africa at the heart of EU development policy and said that he stood ready to participate in efforts to take forward the conclusions of the UK's Africa Commission whose final meeting he also attended.

At a seminar organised by the Overseas Development Institute, Mr Michel charted how the world had changed, how the development community had changed and how the EU had changed since the Millennium Development Goals were adopted by world leaders at the UN summit in 2000. But one thing, he said, had not changed and that was the injustice of poverty.

The Commissioner went on to explain how future EU development policy needed to fit into Europe’s broader external activities and be based on strong partnerships – both within the EU and with developing countries and NGOs. He had a strong “keep it simple” message for ensuring the effectiveness of EU development assistance.