Peter Vis, the chief of staff of EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, has broken with protocol to warn that the European Commission's draft Energy Efficiency Directive could "undermine" the bloc's carbon market.

The Council endorsed draft EU guidelines for the G20 agriculture ministerial meeting of 23 June 2011. These guidelines set out the priorities for the EU as a whole and its members at the G 20 agricultural ministerial meeting which will take place on 23 June in Paris and will decide, on the basis of proposals in a report prepared by 10 international organisations, on an action plan to be endorsed by the heads of state.

The European Investment Bank, the European Union’s long-term lending institution, has formally agreed to provide a EUR 60 million loan to enhance public and private sector operations by the West African Development Bank (BOAD). Finance contracts for the project were signed at the European Investment Bank headquarters in Luxembourg by Philippe Maystadt, President of the European Investment Bank and Christian Adovelande, President of the West African Development Bank.

The Brussels Briefing on “Nutrition security in ACP countries: the key role of agriculture”, organised by the Technical Centre on Agricultural and Rural Development (CTA), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the European Commission (DEVCO), the ACP Secretariat and other partners discussed the need to link nutrition security to agriculture. The briefing assembled around 200 policy experts and stakeholders to talk about the problem of malnutrition and the actions to be taken. Participants represented a range of actors from embassies, international organizations, civil society and the Brussels development community at large.

European Parliament
-20-23 June: Committee Meetings in the European Parliament
-22/23 June:  European Parliament Plenary Session in Brussels
Council of Ministers
-20 June: Foreign Affairs Council
-20 June: Economic & Financial Affairs Council
-21 June: General Affairs Council
-21 June: Environment Council
-22 June: Coreper I
European Council
-23/24 June: European Council
ACP Secretariat
-22 June: Committee of Ambassadors