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
David Nabarro is the UN Special Representative for Food Security and Nutrition. He gave an interview to CTA in the margin of the Food for everyone conference organised by the European Economic and Social Committee.
The European Union initialled a new one-year protocol to the fisheries agreement with Guinea Bissau on June 15. This protocol maintains the conditions of the current one, i.e. fishing possibilities for 4,400 gross register tonnage (GRT) for shrimp trawlers, 4,400 GRT for fin-fish and cephalopod trawlers, 23 tuna seiners and longliners, and 14 pole-and-line vessels. The EU financial counterpart amounts to 4,550,000€ for the right to fish and 2,950,000€ for the support of the fisheries sector in Guinea Bissau. A new clause was added to allow for the suspension of the protocol if there is a breach of human rights and democratic principles. This fisheries agreement allows vessels mainly from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and France to fish in the Guinea-Bissau waters.
Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, has hit back at criticism of the size of the EU's delegation on the Pacific island of Fiji. Ashton came under fire after PublicServiceEurope.com revealed on June 9 that her External Action Service and the European Commission employ 33 people in Fiji's capital Suva at a total cost of around €3m. The island has a population of 850,000 and a GDP per capita of €3,000. The story, which was later picked up by national media in the UK, came to light as a result of a question posed by the Italian MEP Lorenzo Fontana.