Today, development ministers from the Party of European Socialists (PES) held a meeting to discuss priorities for development for the next European Commission mandate.
The meeting reflected on the achievements of both EU High Representative Josep Borrell and European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen under the outgoing mandate. Ministers thanked the High Representative and Commissioner for their work and underlined the need to build on this in the next mandate to progress the development agenda further. Europe must remain a leading force fighting to reduce global poverty and support sustainable development, the meeting agreed.
The election of Antonio Costa as President of the European Council last month was strongly welcomed by the meeting. This move underlines the important role the PES family will continue to play in the external dimension of EU politics.
At the meeting, it was agreed that Germany would take over the chair of the PES Development Ministerial. Participants thanked the outgoing chair – PES Executive Vice-President and former Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Francisco André – for his work and dedication over the past years.
The PES Development Ministerial is an informal meeting organised by the PES, bringing together figures from the European Commission, national governments, and the European Parliament.
The meeting was attended by:
- Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany
- Dan Jørgensen, Minister for Development Cooperation, Denmark
- Eva Granados, Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Spain
- Udo Bullmann MEP, Group Coordinator on Development, S&D Group in the European Parliament
- Erwin Vandeputte, Head of Cabinet of Caroline Gennez, Belgium
- Renaud Savignat, Member of Cabinet of European Commissioner for International Partnerships, European Commission
- Yonnec Polet, Deputy Secretary General, PES
