Archive for the 'European Union' Category
AGEG Consultants eG has two new Managing Directors, who share general management tasks. Both are experienced Consultants and are named Harald, but are not relatives. Harald Himsel will lead the business development, while Harald Speidel looks more on the administration and financial management. Martina Jacobson joined the team as Project Manager for Training, E-Learning, and [...]
The European Commission has selected three consortia in which AGEG participates as partner for the Multiple Framework Contract to recruit technical assistance for short-term expertise. The Framework Contract Beneficiaries is an instrument for fast and transparent recruiting of experts for activities in the sole interest of the beneficiary countries/authorities of the European Commission’s external aid [...]
As president in office of the EU Council, the Minister for International Development Cooperation of Sweden, Gunilla Carlsson, presented to MEPs from the Committee on Development the presidency’s priorities for the second semester of 2009: development as part of the climate change agenda, democracy building as well as policy coherence and effectiveness. Helping to ensure [...]
The newly published 2009 annual report on the European Community’s development and external assistance policies and their implementation in 2008 shows that the European Union continues to be the world’s leading development aid donor, accounting for 60% of world aid in 2008. The Commission alone committed EUR 12 billion, more than a fifth of the [...]
The European Commission issued its Annual Report on Competition Policy for 2008. The report provides a summary of the most important developments with regards to EU competition policy and focuses on major enforcement actions. Furthermore, the ways in which tools of competition policy have been applied to combat the financial crisis are outlined and the [...]
The European Commission published the results of the new ”Flash Eurobarometer: SMEs’ access to finance”. The survey, conducted with 9071 firms in 27 EU Member States, Croatia, Iceland and Norway, was set up to assess EU companies’ use of various sources of finance, to get a picture of the magnitude of companies’ difficulties in getting [...]
The fourth phase of AL-INVEST, financed by the European Commission, aims at supporting the internationalisation of Latin American SMEs in collaboration with their European partners in order to contribute to reinforce social cohesion in the region. Unlike the previous phases, the fourth phase of the AL-INVEST (2009-2012) is implemented through three groups of business organisations [...]
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) launched a call addressed to individuals for the establishment of a database of independent experts to assist the EIT in the process of the evaluation and implementation of Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). The database will include profiles from the following areas: Sustainable energy, Climate change adoption [...]
The United Nations Conference on the world financial crisis adopted a wide-ranging Outcome Document (http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/CONF.214/3&Lang=E). The Outcome Document recognizes that the incoherence of the global economic system needs to be urgently addressed. It stresses the importance of the United Nations’ role in international economic issues,emphasizing that its universal membership and legitimacy makes it well positioned [...]
Sustainable management of natural resources and adaptation to climate change, as well as energy saving and promotion of renewable energy, are fundamental to ensure sustainable urban and rural development and progress in poverty eradication, in particular the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). External assistance should tackle these issues in a more rigorous and [...]
The European Union has historically attracted millions of immigrants. Most of them come legally, but there are some who do not. Immigration is both an opportunity and a challenge for Europe. Legal immigrants are needed to fill gaps in the EU labour force, as the EU’s own population grows older and its birth rate declines. [...]
The European Commission has adopted a communication on the role of Fair Trade and non-governmental trade-related sustainability assurance schemes. The communication recognises the significant development of the Fair Trade movement and the significance of a European market now worth EUR 1.5 billion per year. The communication also lays out new policy areas where Fair Trade [...]
The joint fight against fraud affecting development aid is at the centre of a co-operation agreement signed today in Brussels between the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the World Bank’s Integrity Vice-Presidency. The World Bank is the trustee of significant funds from the EU. The agreement will allow investigators from both institutions’ anti-fraud and anti-corruption [...]
Developing countries are severely hit by the global economic crisis. The leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies, recognising that the global financial crisis has ‘a disproportionate impact’ on vulnerable people in poor countries, have promised to make hundreds of billions of United States dollars available to these countries as part of a $1.1 trillion [...]
The European Commission has published a new document on Aid for Trade. This publication provides a clearer picture of this development assistance strategy. It examines the broad scope of Aid for Trade, explains the key types of Aid for Trade under the themes of ‘‘narrow” Aid for Trade (Trade Related Assistance) and ‘‘Wider” Aid for [...]
Employment and incomes key to pulling world economy out of tailspin, as ILO predicts up to 50 million jobs to go and 200 million more into absolute poverty, as new IMF figures herald global recession. The global financial crisis now threatens to become a social time bomb if the world’s governments don’t act together to [...]
OECD countries have pledged to abstain from trade protectionism as part of a concerted drive to shore up the world economy and combat recession. They also have reaffirmed their commitments on aid to developing countries. Already in November 2008, at a meeting of the OECD’s Executive Committee in Special Session, OECD countries agreed to sustain [...]
The European Commission presented a Recovery Plan based on short-term measures to boost demand, save jobs and help restore confidence, and also on ‘’smart investment” to yield higher growth and sustainable prosperity in the longer-term. The Plan calls for a timely, targeted and temporary fiscal stimulus in 2009-2010 of EUR 200bn, or 1.5% of EU [...]
The European Commission disbursed € 8.5 billion in aid during 2007, representing 9% of total Community expenditures, according to the recently released annual report on EC aid. Top regions for EC assistance were Sub-Saharan Africa (33%), Asia (17%), and Europe (16%); and 23% of aid was given through budget support. In its review of the [...]
The French Presidency wishes to address four key priorities: energy and the climate, migration issues, agriculture and security and defence.
On Development policy:
- responses to be made to the rise in prices of basic products.
- definition of a common positions for international meetings that makes good use of the role and experience of the EU.
- effectiveness [...]
Africa Progress Panel
http://www.africaprogresspanel.org
The aim of the Africa Progress Panel is to focus world leaders’ attention on making the most of the growing number of opportunities for progress in Africa. It will also comment on the challenges African governments, the G8 and other international partners face in meeting the commitments made towards Africa’s development.
AGEG Consultants eG
http://www.ageg.de
AGEG [...]
The European Commission has presented to the European Parliament its regular report on the openness of the European market to imports from developing countries. The report sets out how the EU has continued in 2007 to use its trade policy to advance a pro-development agenda and analyses the relevant data for which the most recent [...]
African Voices in Europe demand more effective aid for Africa’s poorest
http://practicalaction.org/?id=africanvoices
Practical Action has launched a new website – African Voices in Europe – to expose the failures of European aid and set out a new agenda for Improving aid for Africa’s poorest communities. African Voices in Europe exposes the failures of EC aid to reach [...]
A good number of country strategy papers for the implementation of the 10th European Development Fund in the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries have now been adopted and signed. They are available on EC website at: http://ec.europa.eu/development/how/iqsg/documents_library_en.cfm
A rapid overview of the 31 CSPs that were signed on 9 December 2007 at the occasion of [...]
The European Commission launched a public consultation on the content of a European ”Small Business Act”. Its objective is to put small and medium sized enterprises at the forefront of decision-making in the EU and to introduce concrete measures to unlock the SMEs’ growth potential. It will include new initiatives to reduce regulatory burden on [...]
Inbox- [East Asia Forum] weekly digest Nov 16 - Obama in Asia 15 November 2009 Shiro Armstrong
- Your daily selection of IRIN Asia English reports, 11/15/2009 15 November 2009 IRIN
- Eritrea: Perilous Journeys 15 November 2009 africafocus@...
- WDEV News Alert for November 15, 2009: Social protection in South As 15 November 2009 World Economy & Development
- ENB Vol. 9 No. 488 - Eighth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working 15 November 2009 Earth Negotiations Bulletin
- Devfinance: ACCION invests in microfinance in Bihar, India 14 November 2009 Bruce MacDonald
- GPF Newsletter November 9-13 14 November 2009 Global Policy Forum
- EU@UN News Roundup: Kyoto, Iraq, EU's new top jobs 14 November 2009 euunwebmaster@...
- Devfinance: New Request for Applications - Learning Program on Scali 14 November 2009 Laura Meissner
- [Ideas for development] Once Daily Digest Email 14 November 2009 Blog
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