Events

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May 25, 2012

New event on 25 June: Tackling global poverty: Where next for Brussels?

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EDCSP will host a public event on 25 June from 14:30 to 16:00 examining the recent inquiries into EU development cooperation by the IDC, the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee and the OECD-DAC’s peer review.

The panel includes:

  • Rt Hon Malcolm Bruce MP – Chair of the IDC committee
  • Thijs Berman MEP – Member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Development (DEVE)
  • Karen Jorgensen, Head of Division, Review, Evaluation and Engagement (REDD), Development Cooperation Directorate, OECD
  • Simon Maxwell (chair) – Senior Research Associate, ODI

To register online or for more details click here.

 

April 19, 2012

Sustainable Energy for All: Milestone on a road to where?

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Four months old, the International Year for Sustainable Energy for All seems well down the road to successfully ensuring energy poverty has higher priority in development policy and programming. The EU Sustainable Energy for All Summit this week, brought together development ministers from the EU and Norway, energy ministers from developing countries, the Commission President, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, and three or four hundred others, to express support for the three objectives of the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative: to achieve by 2030, universal access to modern energy services, a doubling of the rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and a doubling of the share of renewables in the global energy mix.

ODI Research Fellow Andrew Scott analyses the initiative in this EDCSP blog. 

 

March 5, 2012

Differentiation and MICs: A view from Europe

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As discussions over Denmark’s new international development policy continue, Siân talks to Danish development news site U-landsnyt about the EU’s proposed policy of ‘differentiation’ and future cooperation with MICs. Read the interview here (in Danish).

 

February 20, 2012

Meeting report: The European Commission launches its latest trade strategy

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The EU is the most open trading bloc in the world, around three quarters of EU imports from developing countries are duty free – this is a much larger share than imports to the US and China. However, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) continue to account for a low share of global trade, experiencing an increase in their share of global trade of just 0.4% (from 0.8% to 1.2%) over the last decade. In the view of recent trends, the European Commission has decided to review its traditional trade and development tools, in a bid to tailor them to those countries that are getting left behind.

On 7 February 2012, the European Commission held a public consultation meeting on its latest trade strategy – ‘Trade, Growth & Development: tailoring trade and investment policy for those countries most in need’, which was released at the end of January.

ODI’s Jodie Keane reports back in this meeting report.

 

February 14, 2012

Simon and Siân give evidence to the IDC inquiry on EU development assistance

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The International Development Committee recently called Simon Maxwell and Siân Herbert to give oral evidence at a session for the inquiry into EU development assistance.

The session covered a vast array of issues including:

  • The EU’s new development strategy – An Agenda for Change;
  •  The comparative advantages of the EC, compared to both bilateral and multiateral donors;
  •  The differences between the EU’s central development instruments, and the European Development Fund (EDF);
  • How the EU should deal with middle-incomes countries;
  • Administration costs – looking at the tricky task of comparing DFID to the European Commission’s development projects; and
  • Policy coherence for development.

Click here for a transcript of the session.

 

February 10, 2012

The EU’s policy on differentiation: Tackling poverty and global challenges?

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On 2 February, Siân Herbert gave a presentation at a workshop in Copenhagen, discussing the EU’s new policy on ‘differentiation’ (‘Differentiation’ means reassessing aid to middle income countries). The workshop was hosted by Concord Denmark, the Danish NGO platform for EU development work, and attended by a variety of Danish NGOs.

The objective of the workshop was to define a common position on differentiation. The NGOs present were open to the changes proposed by the European Commission, and support revaluating aid to MICs. At the end of the workshop, the decision was taken that Concord Denmark will not engage with the debate regarding the proposed criteria for aid allocation, but will instead focus on where the funds should be redirected. Concord advised that they are engaged in discussions with the European Commission, ahead of the release of a communication on CSOs later this year.

The EU’s policy on differentiation has also been discussed recently by Andy Sumner, Andris Piebalgs and Simon Maxwell.

Siân’s presentation is available here.

 

December 19, 2011

‘Modernising European Development Policy’ at the European Development Days

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On 16 December, EDCSP jointly hosted a panel debate, as part of the European Think-Tanks Group and with French research institute Ferdi, looking at ‘Modernising European Development Policy’, at the European Development Days conference in Warsaw.

To watch a video of the debate, click here.

 

December 8, 2011

Modernising European Development Policy – Event at the European Development Days

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The EDCSP team is now all set for next week’s European Development Days.

 

On 16 December from 14.15 until 16.00, we will jointly host a panel debate, with our European Think-Tank Group partners and with French research institute FERDI. Our debate will look at ‘Modernising European Development Policy’ and boasts a high-level panel including:

  • Andris Piebalgs (European Commissioner for Development),
  •  Baroness Lindsay Northover (UK Government Spokesperson on International Development, House of Lords),
  •  Tertius Zongo (Former Prime Minister of Burkina Faso),
  •  Alain Henry (Head of the Cabinet of Mr. Henri de Raincourt),
  •  Paul Engel (Director of ECDPM),
  •  Patrick Guillaumont (President of FERDI), and
  •  Simon Maxwell (ODI) (chair).

If you are attending the EDDs too, please come along!

 

December 5, 2011

What the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework could mean for development

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On 29 November, EDCSP, as part of the European Think Tanks Group (ETTG), together with Thijs Berman MEP, hosted a roundtable debate in the European Parliament on the development aspects of the proposals on the EU’s Multi-Annual Financial Framework.

To see the ETTG’s presentation, click here.

 

November 25, 2011

What will the EU push for at Busan?

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Ahead of the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness at Busan, read the EU’s common position here.

 

October 25, 2011

Simon Maxwell discusses the Commission’s new Agenda for Change

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On 19 October, the EDCSP’s Simon Maxwell was invited to speak on the panel at Commissioner Andris Piebalgs’ launch event for the European Commission’s new development strategy – An Agenda for Change. Simon welcomed the document and the new directions it signals, noting that it is still work in progress, with seven more months of negotiations ahead. He also identified some key points of unfinished business that the strategy uncovers.

To watch the panel discussion, click here.

To watch Simon’s speech, click here.

To watch Simon’s interview by Capacity4dev, click here.

 

October 3, 2011

EADI-DSA conference “Rethinking Development in an Age of Scarcity and Uncertainty” – EDCSP trip report

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From 19 to 22 September, the EADI and DSA hosted a conference in York looking at “Rethinking Development in an Age of Scarcity and Uncertainty”. The EDCSP team held a panel discussion, jointly with its partner think tanks, as part of the European Think Tanks Group (ETTG), which explored the subject of “Modernising European Development Policy in a Changing World”, and posed the question, ”What can Researchers bring to the Table?”

Click here to read our reflections on the conference, and for some insights from our panel discussion.

 

September 15, 2011

‘EU aid: What’s it for?’

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If you have ever found yourself questioning what EU development aid should be for, then you should have been at our recent event hosted by the EDCSP team and Open Europe in London on 13 September 2011.

Around 120 government officials, academics, consultants, journalists and NGOs representatives turned up to grill our panel of experts, which included Baroness Glenys Kinnock (opposition spokesperson for the Department for International Development (DFID) in the House of Lords), the EDCSP’s Simon Maxwell (Senior Research Associate at ODI), Chris Heaton-Harris MP (Member of Parliament for Daventry), Stephen Booth (Open Europe’s Research Director), and Liz Ford as chair (Deputy Editor of the Guardian’s Global Development website).

To catch up on the event, read a summary here, or watch it on video here.

 

July 14, 2011

Budget support – good or bad for development?

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 ODI and Oxfam International hosted an event looking at budget support in Brussels on 13 July.

The event opened with presentations from ODI’s Marcus Manuel and the World Bank’s Edward Mountfield; and followed with a high level panel debate involving European Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, Sierra Leone Finance Minister Dr Samura Kamara, Serge Tomasi from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Friedrich Kitschelt from the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and Oxfam’s Helen Magombo. The event was chaired by ODI’s Simon Maxwell.

The debate focussed on the following questions:

  • Does budget support deliver development results? What kind of results?
  • What are the benefits of budget support in fostering domestic accountability and how can they be strengthened?
  • What are the right criteria for allocating budget support (notably in fragile states)?
  • Political dialogue. How to react to human rights breaches?
  • Should the political dialogue apply to just budget support or to all aid instruments?

To read more about the event click here.

 

March 3, 2011

EDCSP host private roundtable in Berlin on EU Financial Perspectives

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ODI joined forces with DIE and ONE to host a private roundtable on ‘Rethinking the EU’s external action budget’ in Berlin on the 1st March. Participants included officials from the German Foreign Affairs, Development and Treasury ministries as well as representatives from the European Commission and leading NGOs.

This is the third in a series of consultations EDCSP is organising on the EU Financial Perspectives post 2013. Events have already taken place in London and Brussels and a Paris meeting will take place on the 16th March. Plans are in place to hold similar events in the Spain, the Netherlands and in the European Parliament.

To read a summary of discussion click here

 

February 15, 2011

ODI/ONE Roundtable on rethinking the EU’s external action budget

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ODI, together with ONE, hosted a private roundtable in Brussels on the 14th February on ‘Rethinking the EU’s external action budget and instruments’. Participants included Member State and European Commission officials, as well as leading NGOs and academics. This is the second in a series of events ODI is organising across Europe on the EU’s next multiannual budgetary framework, the EU Financial Perspectives, 2014-2020. Future events are planned in Berlin and Paris in March 2011.

For a summary of the discussion, click here

 

February 12, 2011

Final EDC2020 Event: Shaping Europe’s Global Role

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ODI participated in the final EDC2020 event on Friday 11th February in Brussels. This was an opportunity to present the results of three years of collaborative research from think-tanks across Europe.  The project had three areas of focus: The impact of new actors in international development; energy security, democracy and political development; and climate change and European development cooperation.  For more information, and to find EDC2020 publications, visit the project’s website here.

For a copy of EDCSP’s trip report of the final event, click here.

 

February 2, 2011

An EU-12 perspective on European development cooperation

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This year and next will be years of leadership in Europe for new Member States. Hungary is currently in charge. Poland is next. Cyprus has the Presidency in the second half of 2012. The new Member States, the EU-12, are a diverse group, but share perspectives which are likely to shape European development policy in different ways.

(more…)

 

December 9, 2010

Simon Maxwell participates in high-level session on post-Lisbon development challenges.

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As part of the official programme of the European Development Days, Simon Maxwell spoke on a high-level panel  on ‘The post-Lisbon landscape: development at a crossroads’. Other panellists included the UK’s Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell MP, the Swedish Minister for Development Cooperation, Gunilla Carlsson and the European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs.

Simon Maxwell presented the conclusions of the European Think Tanks Group, outlined in its Memorandum ‘New Challenges, New Beginnings’, and contributed to a wide-ranging debate which covered both the institutional and policy challenges facing EU development cooperation.

 

December 9, 2010

The European Think-Tanks Group participate in the European Development Days (EDD)

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The European Think-Tanks Group participated in the 2010 European Development Days (EDD) held in Brussels, 6-7 December.

Researchers from DIE, ECDPM, FRIDE and ODI were on hand at a joint stand in the EDD ‘Development Village’ to highlight the work of the group and showcase a selection of publications.  The stand attracted a lot of interest, with the Group’s Memorandum ‘New Challenges, New Beginnings’ being particularly popular and the interactive ‘EU swingometer’ getting lots of votes.

The European Think-Tanks Group also organised two private meetings for  a group of around 60 Directors-General from the Member States, European Commission senior officials, Parliamentarians, academics and NGO Directors, to debate the future shape and direction of EU development cooperation, as well as discuss some of the key issues on the current EU development agenda.

To read the report on the EDD, click here

 

November 17, 2010

EDCSP hosts Parliamentary meeting with Under-Secretary of State, Stephen O’Brien MP

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On Wednesday 17th November EDCSP organised a private meeting of MPs and Lords hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development (APGOOD) and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Europe (EU APPG).  This was an opportunity to hear the Under-Secretary of State, Stephen O’Brien MP share his views on European development cooperation and how it can be strengthened.  David Laws MP, Chair of APGOOD, moderated a frank and open discussion which covered a broad range of topics, including the added value of delivering aid through Europe, how the Government and Parliamentarians can influence the EU’s agenda and how value for money and transparency of European development cooperation can be improved.

 

November 15, 2010

European Think-Tanks Group ‘bootcamp’

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On 3rd – 5th November, ODI hosted a group of 20 researchers from the European Think-Tanks Group for an EU ‘bootcamp’.

Young researchers from DIE, ECDPM, FRIDE and ODI came together for three days of intense training, brainstorming and planning. The purpose of the workshop was to strengthen ties between the institutes, build joint capacity for engaging with Europe and lay the ground for future collaborative research projects. (more…)

 

November 11, 2010

EDCSP brief the House of Lords EU Sub-Committee

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On the 11th November 2010, EDCSP briefed the House of Lords EU Sub-Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Development. Simon Maxwell presented an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda for EU development cooperation, including the institutional reforms following the Lisbon Treaty and the upcoming negotiations for the EU Financial Perspective, 2014-2020. For a copy of the presentation, please click here.

 

October 5, 2010

Rethinking the EU’s external action budget

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Today, EDCSP hosted a private roundtable to discuss proposals for the next Financial Perspectives (2014-2020).  Participants included government officials from across Whitehall, leading NGOs and academics.

Discussion was initiated through a presentation by Mikaela Gavas, which focussed on three key questions about funding for EU external action.  A summary of the discussion will be available soon; click here for a copy of the presentation.

 

June 4, 2010

EDCSP event series at ODI: first debate report now available

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EDCSP launched its four-part debate series on ‘Europe at the heart of international development? International development at the heart of Europe?’ with a discussion on the European External Action Service, ‘The EEAS: Delivering a coherent, whole-of-government approach?’.  Watch the video, listen to the audio or read the event report here.

 

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