Development Minister Paatero to Brussels for high-level meetings and the Foreign Affairs Council
Development Minister Sirpa Paatero will travel to Brussels on 11 and 12 December for the Foreign Affairs Council and high-level meetings. The topics for discussion are, among others, the European Union’s priorities for sustainable development in the preparation of the post-2015 development goals and support for countries affected by Ebola.
On 11 December Minister Paatero will meet with Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides and Chair of the Committee on Development of the European Parliament Linda McAvan, as well as other Members of the European Parliament. The issues of discussion are in particular the priorities of the new Commission and the guidelines of development policy for the coming year. Finland considers it important for the Commission, in its initiatives, to implement in practice the global post-2015 sustainable development goals that will be approved in the autumn of 2015.
The main topics of the Foreign Affairs Council on 12 December are the priorities of the EU’s development policy in preparation of the post-2015 development goals. Negotiations on the goals with intensify early next year, when the intergovernmental negotiations begin at UN level. The topic will also be discussed at the informal dinner on the previous day, where the guest will be Amina Mohamed, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning.
Further, the Council will discuss ways to support the countries affected by the Ebola epidemic. Finland considers it important that ways of strengthening the countries’ health systems in the long term are sought addition to immediate actions. Finland has thus far given EUR 10 million for the fight against Ebola.
In addition, the development ministers will discuss how migration and refugees could be better taken into account in EU development cooperation and in activities on a wider scale. The Council will also define guidelines for the new EU action plan on gender equality in development cooperation. In connection with the meeting, the EU-West Africa Economic Partnership Agreement will be signed and the Council’s conclusions on strengthening the role of the private sector in development cooperation, the EU Action Plan on Nutrition and on the report dealing with the EU’s external assistance in 2013 will be adopted.
Additional information: Director Sari Lehtiranta, Unit for General Development Policy and Planning, tel. +358 295 352 139, and Claus-Jerker Lindroos, Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister for International Development, tel. +358 295 351 234.