11 Feabh 2014, 15:26
Officials from Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will tomorrow brief the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade on the levels of coordination that exists between the European Development Fund (EDF) and other EU and Irish bilateral aid programmes.
11 February 2014
The EDF constitutes about one third of the EU’s total aid budget and is the main instrument for delivering EU development assistance to the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) and the Overseas Countries and Territories.
The meeting will consider EU legislative proposals COM (2013) 445 and COM (2013) 660, which lay down the criteria for Member States’ contributions to the next round of EDF funding, which covers the period 2014 to 2020.
Chairman of the Committee Pat Breen TD says: “The European Union is collectively the world’s largest donor and the EDF constitutes a significant part of the total aid budget. The Fund is governed by the Cotonou Agreement, which commits ACP countries to cooperation and dialogue with the EU on good governance, human rights and democratic principles and the rule of law. The legislative package has been framed in the context of the EU’s Agenda for Change, a new development policy with seeks to provide a sharper sectoral and geographic focus of the EU’s aid programme. We look forward to engaging with Department Officials on how the proposals align with Ireland’s national development priorities.”
The meeting takes place tomorrow Wednesday 12 February at 2:30 pm in Committee Room 1, LH 2000. Committee proceedings can also be followed live here.
Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade
Deputies:
Pat Breen, Fine Gael (Chairman)
Eric Byrne, Labour
Bernard Durkan, Fine Gael (Vice-Chairman)
Seán Crowe, Sinn Féin
Olivia Mitchell, Fine Gael
Gerald Nash, Labour
Dan Neville, Fine Gael
Brendan Smith, Fianna Fáil
Maureen O’Sullivan, Independent
Senators:
Deirdre Clune, Fine Gael
Mark Daly, Fianna Fáil
Lorraine Higgins, Labour
Michael Mullins, Fine Gael
David Norris, Independent
Jim Walsh, Fianna Fáil