MOS Costello Brussels on Ireland's Presidency

The Minister for Trade and Development, Joe Costello T.D., will today meet European Commissioners and the Presidents of Mozambique and Malawi in Brussels to discuss Ireland’s priorities for the EU Presidency in January and our overseas development programme.

Minister Costello, who is attending the two-day European Development Days Forum, will meet EU Humanitarian Commissioner, Kristilina Georgieva, and EU Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, to discuss Ireland’s ambitious programme of work during our Presidency of the EU Council, which begins in January.

“I am looking forward to building on my extensive pre-Presidency consultations with our key EU partners.  It is a critical time in international development, as we approach the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals in 2015.  During Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in 2013, one of our key priorities will be developing an EU position on the international development agenda post-2015.

We will work tirelessly to build a consensus on how the EU can improve the resilience of vulnerable communities to natural and man-made crises, such as the current food crises in Africa. We will also work closely on putting the hunger and nutrition crisis at the centre of the international development agenda.”

Minister Costello will also meet President Joyce Banda of Malawi and President Armando Emílio Guebuza of Mozambique to discuss Ireland’s development partnership with both countries.

Later today, Minister Costello will launch the 2012 Global Hunger Index and address the Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA) on Ireland’s development priorities during our Presidency programme.

Yesterday, Minister Costello attended the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. This was the last meeting of EU Development Ministers in advance of Ireland taking up the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. He held discussions with key partners in the European Parliament, the European Commission and Development Ministers from other EU Member States.