7 June 2017: EU leaders agreed to a new framework for European development cooperation, during the European Development Days held in Brussels, Belgium. The ‘New European Consensus on Development’ aligns EU support for development with the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other UN agreements. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed welcomed the framework, which she said demonstrates the EU’s strong commitment to the 2030 Agenda.

The EU provides more than half of the world’s development aid. The joint framework was adopted by the Council of the EU on 19 May 2017. At the EU Development Days event, the Prime Minister of Malta, as President of the European Parliament, signed a statement of commitment on behalf of Member States.

EU Member States commit to spending 20% of European official development assistance (ODA) on social inclusion and human development.

The new Consensus, which replaces the 2006 European consensus on development, sets out a vision for the EU’s engagement with the world, and provides the cornerstone for its development aid, with the SDGs as a cross-cutting dimension of its work. It also references the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) as an integral part of the 2030 Agenda, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Paris Agreement on climate change as being complementary to it. In the Consensus, EU Member States commit to spending 20% of European official development assistance (ODA) on social inclusion and human development. They seek to strengthen resilience against environmental and economic shocks, and to step up efforts to address the root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement. The Consensus will guide policy coherence across EU Member States on many issues, including trade, finance, environment and climate change, food security, migration and security, with particular attention to combating illicit financial flows and tax avoidance.

In her remarks at the event, Mohammed identified four priorities for the international community: strengthening solidarity with youth and refugees; empowering women and girls, especially in the areas of eliminating violence against them; increasing development financing, including through using public sector funds to leverage private sector funds; and pressing ahead with action on climate change. She looked forward to the Climate Summit that will take place in New York in 2019, and urged all concerned to ensure that the global consensus on climate does not “unravel any further.”

Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, called the 2030 Agenda a truly transformational agenda, and urged both rich and poor countries to work together to achieve the SDGs and eliminate poverty. [New European Consensus on Development] [UNRIC Press Release] [EU Press Release] [Remarks of Deputy Secretary-General]