New development committee, chair and members
The development committee of the European Parliament held its first meeting since the elections on Tuesday 21st July. The committee now has 30 MEPs, and is chaired by Eva Joly of the French Green Party, a first-time MEP famed for campaigning against government and big business corruption. The four vice-chairs are Michèle Striffler (France, EPP), Nirj Deva (UK, ECR), Iva Zanicchi (Italy, EPP) and Corina Creţu (Romania, S&D).
The committee’s discussion focused on the EU budget for next year, with many members expressing concern at cuts in development aid. The committee went on to discuss how climate change affects developing countries. Expertise on the latter was provided by a representative of Oxfam International, who presented the working document “Climate Change and Developing Countries”.
Ms Joly announced the establishment of a working group on food security, the presentation of a study on the consequences of the financial crisis for developing countries, and the creation of important delegations to attend the European Development Days in October in Sweden and the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen in December.
The next meeting of the committee will be on 2-3 September, and will focus on how the financial crisis has affected developing countries.
Sources:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/homeCom.do?language=EN&body=DEVE
