Universal, inclusive, sustainable - Shaping the EU's contribution to a global public policy in the Post-2015 world

In 2014, negotiations for a Post-2015 global agenda will gain momentum. The Intergovernmental Open Working Group (OWG) established by the UN in 2013 will start elaborating a proposal which integrates work on the Sustainable Development Goals as decided by the UN Conference on Sustainable Develop­ment in Rio de Janeiro in 2012 and experiences from the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2005. This process of integration has been supported by the European Union from the start.

The Post-2015 agenda thus opens up opportunities for reformulating European policies and instruments for international cooperation. The new agenda will establish universal goals for sustainable development, which should guide the domestic policies of all UN member states as much as their policies towards inter­national co-operation. What is at stake now is no longer aid from rich countries to poor ones to fight poverty, but national and international joint action to achieve common global goals, i.e. the reduction of poverty and inequality, protection of the climate and biodiversity, food security, sustainable energy for all, peace and security. Joint action includes not only intergovernmental cooperation, but a wide range of actors, including the private sector, academia and civil society.

Which priorities should Europe set in the upcoming negotiations for the Post-2015 agenda? Which re­sponsibilities does Europe face with a view to the global consequences of domestic policies within the Union and in member states, and with regard to European international cooperation? What opportunities and needs exist to reform our approaches in development cooperation in order to allow for joint action and reciprocal cooperation?

These and other questions were addressed by this panel of high-level experts, organised by the Government of North Rhine-Westphalia and the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) – Germany’s leading development policy think tank.

Welcome:

Angelica Schwall-Düren
Minister for Federal Affairs, Europe and Media of the Government of North Rhine-Westphalia

Overview: The Post-2015 Agenda
Imme Scholz, Deputy Director, German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)

Panellists:

• William Cobbett, Director, Cities Alliance

• Seamus Jeffreson, Director, Confederation for Cooperation of Relief and Development NGOs (CONCORD)

• Imme Scholz, Deputy Director, German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)

• Klaus Rudischhauser, Deputy Director-General for Policy and Thematic Coordination, Directorate General Development and Cooperation – EuropeAid, European Commission

• H.E. Ousmane Sylla, Ambassador of Guinea to the European Union (tbc)

• Monika Hoegen (Moderator)