Written answers

Tuesday, 6 July 2010

Department of Foreign Affairs

Overseas Development Aid

10:00 am

Photo of Michael D HigginsMichael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 387: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will guarantee that responsibility in development policy within the EU will remain undiluted in a single accountable agency. [29765/10]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty has led to significant changes in the European Union's institutional arrangements. These include the creation of a full-time President of the European Council, the establishment of a new post of High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the creation of a European External Action Service (EEAS). The EEAS is intended to support the work of the High Representative across the entire range of EU external relations.

Article 208 of the Lisbon Treaty states that development cooperation policy shall have as its primary objective the reduction and, in the longer term, the eradication of poverty. It further states that this primary objective must be respected in all other EU policies that are likely to affect development policy.

Given the central role that the EEAS, under the responsibility of the High Representative, is to play in the EU's external relations, some Member States, including Ireland, were concerned to ensure that no aspect of development policy would be weakened in the process of integration into the EEAS. Following the protracted and detailed discussions on the subject between the Commission, Council and Member States, I believe that arrangements have been agreed which can raise the profile of development policy and promote policy coherence across all areas of the Union's external relations. This was a key objective of the Lisbon Treaty.

The European External Action Service will play a central role in development policy and development programming, working in close collaboration with the Commission throughout the full aid programming, planning and implementation cycles. The EEAS and the Commission will both be responsible for specific elements of the programming cycle, with the Development Commissioner allocated the role of main decision maker. This will encourage a high level of coordination and cooperation between the High Representative, the External Action Service and the Development Commissioner in all stages.

These new arrangements have the potential to mark a significant improvement in the coherence and consistency of the EU's external policies, including development policy in all its aspects. In line with the spirit and ambition of the Lisbon Treaty, I am confident that they will assist in the more effective integration of development into the EU's overall external relations and improve the effectiveness of both development policy and broader foreign policy, with a strong, central focus on poverty reduction.

It is also important to note that the proposal by the High Representative, which was agreed to by Ministers at the Foreign Affairs Council in April, is not set in stone. A review of the EEAS is scheduled for 2012. It will be based clearly on the experience of the next two years, and on the views of Member States, including Ireland, on issues including the effectiveness of the Union's development programme. The Government will continue to follow this important issue very closely.

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