The next Brussels Development Briefing will take place on the 30 November 2011 and will be organised in partnership with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the European Commission (DG DEVCO) the ACP Secretariat, Concord and various other partners. The Briefing will be fully webstreamed in English and French.
European Parliament
-30 November-1 December: Mini-plenary of the European Parliament (Brussels)
-29 November/1 December: Committee Meetings (Brussels)
Council of Ministers
-30 November: Economic and Financial Affairs Council
-30 November: Coreper II, Coreper I
-30 November/1 December: Foreign Affairs Council
European Commission
-30 November: Weekly meeting of the college
CTA
-30 November: Brussels Briefing on Food Price Volatility
You can also read our newspaper “CTA Brussels Daily” (fed by our Twitter account), follow our new Facebook group CTABrussels and our Twitter account CTABrussels to receive up-to-date information on EU-ACP events.
Peter Thompson is the Director of the Directorate for Development and Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) within the trade directorate of the European Commission. In this interview, Mr Thompson speaks about the EU's decision to phase out preferential market access for ACP countries who have not implemented the EPAs by 2014 and underlines the development aspect that is contained in the EPAs.
Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA Group and EU negotiators held technical meetings on market access, rules of origin, services and investment, development co-operation and Geographical Indications, followed by Senior Officials Meetings, from 10 to 16 November 2011 in Johannesburg.
In a discussion on the situation of net food importing developing and least developed countries, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported that the world’s food import bill is heading for a new peak of US$1.29 trillion this year, an unprecedented surge of US$250 billion, with all food categories registering double-digit percentage increases. The World Bank also reported that “price-insulating policies by [WTO] members during the crises have magnified price movements,” an assessment that sparked a critical response from some delegations.