CONCORD members welcomed new EU Development Commissioner Neven Mimica on Monday 17th at a reception event with European civil society leaders.
Commissioner Mimica was joined by the European Parliament’s Development Committee (DEVE) chair Linda McAvan in a Question and Answer session alongside CONCORD President Johannes Trimmel and board member Olivia Baciu.
MEP McAvan was already member of the previous European Parliament, also member of the European Parliament’s EU-ACP Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
Mr.Mimica, Croatian Economist and career diplomat, joined the European Commission in 2013 to take charge of the consumer affairs portfolio.
Commissioner Mimica will be in charge of one of the largest development aid budgets in the world, as our recent AidWatch report 2014 shows.
EU Commissioner @MimicaEU at @CONCORD_Europe event: “I want to be a real champion for gender and development.”
— Dóchas (@Dochasnetwork) November 17, 2014
Members discussed with both decision makers issues such as the role of the Parliament’s development committee, key policy areas related to Policy Coherence for Development and how the Parliament and Commission can work with civil society organisations, including new mechanisms for dialogue in the EU and in partner countries.
.@CONCORD_Europe assembly: #Post2015 framework is an opportunity to agree on a vision to make poverty a thing of the past!
— Neven Mimica (@MimicaEU) November 18, 2014
Overall it was a great opportunity for CONCORD members to exchange views. We look forward to close cooperation with the new Commissioner and the European Commission’s development department – DG DEVCO-EuropeAid – in the coming years.