European Parliament Committee on Development
The Committee on Development (DEVE) is responsible for the promotion, implementation and monitoring of the development and cooperation policy of the European Union, including:
- political dialogue with developing countries, bilaterally and in the relevant international organisations and inter-parliamentary fora;
- aid to, and cooperation agreements with, developing countries;
- promotion of democratic values, good governance and human rights in developing countries.
The DEVE committee is also responsible for monitoring the Cotonou Agreement, the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement which the EU signed with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in 2000.
The committee has 30 members and 30 substitutes. Its new chair is Eva Joly, who represents the French Green Party. Eva Joly, a Norwegian born French judge, has spent much of her professional life fighting corruption and is famous in France for taking on corrupt politicians, banks and oil companies.
The UK has three members and three substitutes on the Committee. The members are Nirj Deva (Conservative), Michael Cashman (Labour) and Bill Newton Dunn (Liberal Democrats).
The UK substitutes on the committee are Linda McAvan from Labour, Emma McClarkin from the Conservatives and Fiona Hall from the Liberal Democrats.
Bond and our members and partner networks will actively target the DEVE Committee and its members in our lobby work, as will the pan-European confederation of development NGOs CONCORD. Contact with, and lobbying of, UK MEPs will continue throughout the five year parliamentary period. To find out more about this work or to get involved in Bond European Policy Group work, contact the Bond European Policy Officer Romina Vegro on rvegro@bond.org.uk.
