4 December 2014
EU Parliament Outlines Priorities for Post-2015 Development Agenda
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The European Parliament has adopted a resolution defining its collective priorities for the post-2015 development agenda.

Priorities include ending poverty and fighting inequalities, a human rights-based approach, and a variety of social, economic, and environmental development issues.

europeanparliament27 November 2014: The European Parliament has adopted a resolution defining its collective priorities for the post-2015 development agenda. Priorities include ending poverty and fighting inequalities, a human rights-based approach, and a variety of social, economic, and environmental development issues.

Members of the European Parliament voted to adopt a report on the next development agenda at a plenary meeting in Strasbourg, France on 25 November 2014. The resolution was passed with a majority of 541 votes, with 96 voting against it and 29 abstaining, and follows a June 2014 report of the European Council on negotiating positions for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and post-2015 development agenda.

The resolution outlines lessons learned from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including their uneven achievement, failure to address structural issues, and limited scope of issues. It calls on the EU to indicate specific actions to which it can commit, in the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda, to uphold the agenda’s universal nature.

While endorsing the conclusion of the UN General Assembly’s Open Working Group (OWG) on SDGs, the resolution considers that its proposed goals and targets could be clustered. It also calls on the EU to ensure national policy coherence with the future agenda through reporting and monitoring mechanisms.

The overriding theme of the post-2015 development agenda, the resolution states, should be “ending poverty and fighting inequalities, together with sustainable development.” It also calls for a more ambitious human rights-based and people-centered approach to development than was reflected in the OWG proposal, and calls on the EU to redouble efforts in intergovernmental negotiations to stress these issues.

Other priority areas outlined in the resolution include: conflict prevention, post-conflict recovery, peacebuilding and promotion of lasting peace; climate change mitigation, protection of the environment, and disaster risk reduction; food security, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, combating land degradation, water and sanitation; health and education; the central role of women in the post-2015 global development framework; and inclusive and sustainable growth, employment and decent work creation.

On the private sector, the resolution stresses its important role in driving inclusive and sustainable growth, corporate social responsibility, and social entrepreneurship. It also recognizes the need for a “participatory approach” in the new framework to involve actors and civil society at all levels.

The resolution urges states to meet their commitments of allocating at least 0.7% of Gross National Income to Official Development Assistance (ODA), while also calling for combating corruption, evaluating blended finance mechanisms, and facilitating public-private partnerships.

Finally, on the post-2015 development agenda indicators and accountability, the EU Parliament resolution stresses the need for strong accountability mechanisms and disaggregated data. [EU Parliament Resolution (2014/2143(INI))] [IISD RS Sources]

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