Mirjam van Reisen, Director of EEPA participated Wednesday in a hearing in the Dutch Parliament on EU Development Policy. Dutch parliamentarians were interested to understand how they can influence the Mid Term Review of EU aid to ACP countries. They raised issues of concern over the budget support programmes agreed with Rwanda and Tanzania. Van Reisen asked parliamentarians to closely follow negotiations on a new European External Action Service, a new EU institutional set-up that will support the European President. MEP Brok, author of a European Parliament opinion on this institution asks that the institution be brought under the Commission. Van Reisen expressed the view that democratic accountability needs to be arranged in line with the Lisbon Treaty. The Treaty also defines Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance as community policies and these should certainly remain within the scope of the Commission with scrutiny and discharge provided by the European Parliament.

More information:

• An article by Mirjam van Reisen in The Broker Online: EU development cooperation after the Irish "Yes": is anyone interested?
• A Dutch article in nrc.next: ‘Ontwikkelingshulp EU niet strategisch inzetten'
• A Dutch article in het Reformatorisch Dagblad: Gevecht over zeggenschap ontwikkelingshulp