Latest posts
Trade and Development: friends not foes
Today, for the first time, the European Commission presents a joint vision of how trade, investment and development policies can work hand in hand to help fighting poverty. I am proud of this Communication, which provides a complete, comprehensive an...
Aid has to be modernised; EU is not pulling out from middle income countries (MICs)
The European Union, like many other donors, is currently exploring the best ways to fight against poverty around the world. Faced with differentiation between developing countries, some of which have become aid donors themselves while others suffer f...
A View from Busan
I’m just back from the Busan High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, which took place in South Korea last week. It was a busy few days of negotiations, exchanges and discussions, but I’m glad to say that we finally agreed on an outcome whi...
Message from Mali
I invite you to read the speech I delivered in Mali, during the signing of the financial agreement for development programmes in Mali. “Je suis ravi de me trouver parmi vous aujourd’hui pour signer, avec le Ministre des Affaires étrang
More action to support the Horn of Africa
The famine put 13 million people into a humanitarian crisis with no quick fix in sight. Often we see shocking images of hunger in Somalia and misery of people in Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. The EU is already the biggest donor for the Horn region (c...
Transparency for all!
There are days when I’m particularly proud to be a member of the Commission, and today is one of those. We adopted the revision of the Transparency and Accounting Directives to insert some disposals regarding disclosure of all payments done by...
Agenda for Change unveiled
Yesterday I presented an “Agenda for Change”, my proposals about changes in EU development policy. I am happy to see open and franc discussions about it the media, on Twitter and in other sources. I want to thank everybody for comments, b...
Clean energy lowers the prices of electricity in Africa
Without providing access to energy for all, we will never win the fight against poverty – I repeated this mantra many times. Behind these words, there are actions; and I want to share with you a successful story from Africa today. Do you know how...
Highlights of my week at the UN General Assembly
September usually takes me to New York for the annual UN General Assembly week. The whole world gathers in the city to discuss the hottest global topics and define joint solutions and actions. This week has a particular flavour to me for two reasons:...
L’Afrique du Sud, entre start up et townships
J’ai ouvert mon site web en février 2010 par une phrase de Nelson Mandela, qui rappelait que la lutte contre la pauvreté ne passait pas par la charité mais par l’accès à la liberté. J’en ai fait l’une des mes priorités...
In Somaliland, EU money brought more stability and development
I recently visited intriguing Somaliland to sign new EU aid programmes for the region and further boost our cooperation (you can see photos here). Therefore with pleasure I read the article on the Guardian’s website analysing the relative succe...
Visite dans la Corne de l’Afrique
Je reviens de 3 jours dans la Corne de l’Afrique, pour une visite en deux volets. Le premier m’a amené à Djibouti, où je voulais rencontrer le gouvernement les autorités du pays afin de renforcer les liens politiques et de coopératio...
Through fighting poverty to security – notes from Afghanistan
The headlines about Afghanistan in European media would definitely tell you that security is the main challenge of the country. The ongoing war with the Taliban, the suicide bombers and the foreign troops are part of a daily live for many millions of...
Aid on NGOs watch
Spring is the time of monitoring EU performance on aid. The Commission published its own statistics, conclusions and recommendations in April. But I also welcome the publication of the AidWatch/Concord report on EU development aid, which we also disc...
Premières visites européennes en Côte d’Ivoire et en Guinée
Je reviens de 3 jours de visite, une partie en Côte d’Ivoire et l’autre en Guinée. L’histoire et la situation de ces deux pays sont bien différentes mais un point reste commun : l’Union européenne soutient ces pays dans le...
EU development aid is for the poorest on the planet – answer to Open Europe Report
Recently Open Europe published a report about EU development aid. I read it with interest because I always welcome fair criticism – especially in the time when we are working on improving impact and delivery of our aid. I see it as another opinion...
Let’s put the facts straight: some myths on EU aid are dangerous
I wanted to share with you the letter I sent to the Editor in chief of the Sunday Times following an article published in their columns which provide an inaccurate picture of what we do, and strive to achieve. Feel free to circulate. Letter to Sunday...
Everybody on board
Development policy is about helping the most vulnerable people on the planet; it is about creating sustainable environment and providing job opportunities, schools and hospitals so people have decent lives. There is no disagreement about this. Deve...
The “silent” revolution
We live in a time of historic transformations – just since the start of this year, we are witnessing the surge of popular unrest in the Arab world, where people express their wish to build fairer and better society. Revolutions are often motiva...
Towards world without TB
Tuberculosis kills 1.7 million people a year, mostly in developing countries, even though we know how to fight this disease. Today’s World Tuberculosis Day reminds us about those who suffer from it and gives us the opportunity to mobilise the i...
