Development and Aid
Belgium has a strong tradition of Development and Aid policy in developing countries, due to its presence in Central Africa, the numerous NGOs and international institutions on its soil, and the fact that Louis Michel, a Belgian, served for many years as the EU Commissioner for Development. Moreover, another Belgian, Karel De Gucht, is the current EU Commissioner for Trade and a former Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs and EU Commissioner for Development.
It is also important to keep in mind that the Belgian presidency will be largely defined by the novelties of the Lisbon Treaty, including in the field of Development and Aid. Besides novelties such as the new function of High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the ongoing creation of the EEAS, the Lisbon Treaty also aimed to reinforce the coherence of the EU external intervention with mechanisms such as EU FAST.
In this new institutional context, Belgium will focus during its presidency on the aid effectiveness in the framework of the Declaration of Paris and the Accra Agenda, which plans a review of the agenda in Seoul in November 2011. Whilst Spain was responsible for progressing on the questions of the cooperation South-South and the mutual responsibility, Belgium will concentrate on the question of funding aid. As such, it aims to highlight best practices in this field and to look for innovative funding mechanisms.
A major issue on Belgium’s agenda is how advance the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). A conference on the progress made in this area and ways to ensure that the targets will be achieved by 2015, will take place in September in New York. In the name of shared responsibility, Belgium will encourage the partners to increase their development budget (target set at 0,7% of the GDP) and will call on developing countries to improve economic and political governance.
Another important international moment for the Belgian Presidency will be the Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico. Ahead of this conference, Belgium wants to ensure that the questions of development will be included in the discussions. In order to answer the challenges of the climate change, Belgium will defend the idea of the “Fast Start” financing and the importance of developing partnerships between public/private sectors.
Yet another focus of the Belgian presidency will be on issues such as the “fragile” states and post-conflict situations; the revision of the EU strategy for food security; and cross-cutting themes such as the gender dimension and human rights in development.
The EU-Africa Summit taking place in Libya on 29-30 November might be an opportunity for Belgium to take the lead on EU-Africa affairs, thanks to its own historical involvement in Central Africa.
Key Belgian Priorities
- Advancing the Millennium Development Goals
- Improving aid effectiveness
- Funding for development initiatives
- Improving the situation of ‘fragile’ and post-conflict states
- Food security and agriculture
- Humanitarian Aid
Key Dates
- Informal Council on Development (7 July)
- UN Summit on the Millennium Goals, New York (20-22 September)
- Development theme in the Foreign Affairs Council (22-23 November)
- Summit EU-Africa, Libya (29-30 November)
- European Development Days (9-10 December)
- Climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico (December)