Newsletter – n°29 – January 2015

In other news

At a meeting of the General Affairs Council, the Council of the European Union adopted the Conclusions relative to the post-2015 development framework: a programme which should focus on the universality and inclusiveness of development, and which is guided by human rights principles. 

The Conclusions state that “the eradication of poverty and sustainable development – identified by the European Union as the two mayor challenges of the post-2015 agenda – are strongly interlinked and require collective action and global solutions”. To this effect, the Council calls for a “new global partnership” which mobilises the action of all the countries and peoples of the world.

While the text insists that institutions and national governments must work together with all stakeholders, including local and regional governments, in the pursuit of a common position of the European Union in view of the September 2015 summit, Member States also recall that “the most essential element for a truly transformative post-2015 agenda is its effective implementation which mostly takes place at the country level.”

Furthermore, to increase people’s ability to hold their governments and other stakeholders accountable, the Council insists on the fact that the framework must be guided by the principles of accountability and transparency, and underlined the need to implement a monitoring and evaluation process.

The Member States, which likewise welcome the Open Working Group propositions on the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the synthesis report on the post-2015 agenda presented by the United Nations Secretary General, adopted the Conclusions on the 16 of December 2014.

To read the December 16 Council Conclusions