ETTG Directors meet with EC Development Commissioner in Brussels

On 15 July 2016, the ETTG Directors met with the European Commission’s Development Commissioner, Neven Mimica, in Brussels regarding the forthcoming new European Consensus on Development. The ETTG urged the Commission to use the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to frame the debate in terms of current European Union (EU) and global crises, but to not limit their use in a technocratic way: the goals should be used to inject a sense of urgency and excitement into the Consensus. The EU should be selective in choosing its priorities, and the SDGs can be used to help identify the EU’s assets in line with global objectives. Simon Maxwell (ETTG Chair), Ed Hedger (ODI), Dirk Messner (DIE), Teresa Ribera (IDDRI) and Ewald Wermuth (ECDPM) participated in the meeting on behalf of ETTG. The Development Commissioner was joined by Stefano Manservisi, Director General of the Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), and by five other representatives from the Cabinet and the DEVCO policy group.