The Informal Council of the 27 Development Ministers, which will convene on 21 and 22 September, in Funchal (Madeira), is the first of the three great milestones that will distinguish the six months of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the area of Development and cooperation.

The second will be, naturally, the Council of Development Ministers, anticipated for November. And the third milestone of the PPEU in this area will be, as it is known, the EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon, on 8 and 9 December, which will hopefully be the beginning of a new stage in relations between Europeans and Africans.

This Informal Council on Development in Funchal will have, as its most prominent points on the agenda, issues related to Humanitarian Aid; Security and Development; and EU’s intervention in situations of fragility. It will be a privileged occasion to set the debate and to present new proposals and visions on the huge problems that presently affect our globalised world, with special attention given to the enablement of less-developed countries, prevention and resolution of conflicts, promotion of better living conditions, including access to education, health and security – meaning human security.

Besides the 27 ministers, other prominent people will be present at the meeting, such as António Guterres, United Nations High-Commissioner for Refugees, Jorge Sampaio, United Nations Special Envoy for the Eradication of Tuberculosis, Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the United Nations Millennium Project, Nuno Severiano Teixeira, Minister of National Defence, Josep Borrell, President of the Development Commission of the European Parliament, commissioners Louis Michel (Development) and Peter Mandelsson (Trade) and also Paul Culley (from the Council’s General Secretariat), Glenys Kinnok(co-president of the ACP EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly) and Thierry Cornillet (commentator at the agency of Humanitarian Aid of the European Parliament).

All these people will contribute, through their testimonies, to the enrichment of the debate, which will begin on the 21st, with the first session in the morning (10:00 to 12:00) dedicated to the debate on the EU’s answer to situations of global fragility. Between 12:00 and 12:30 the minister Nuno Severiano Teixeira will be making a speech on Development and Security. The session will then be followed by a Ministers working lunch, where it will be discussed the issue of “How to reinforce coherence among EU’s development and security policies”.

The afternoon working period will begin at 15:00, with a session dedicated to “New Challenges for Humanitarian Aid”, ending at 16:40, when there will be a coffee break, followed by the traditional family photo. The meeting will reconvene at 17:00 on the 21st, with António Guterres, United Nations High-Commissioner for Refugees, as a guest speaker who will address the issue of “Europe and the challenges of development’s international architecture”. Dinner will be served afterwards.

The last day of the Council’s work, the 22nd, will begin at 09:30, with a session dedicated to Agreements on Economic Partnership. Between 11:00 and 12:15 the Director for the United Nations Millennium Project, Jeffery Sachs, and the United Nations Special Envoy for the Eradication of Tuberculosis, Jorge Sampaio, will be making the last speeches, also as guest speakers, addressing the theme “Europe and the global challenge to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”.

A press conference of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, expected to be held at 12:30 on the 22nd, will officially close the working session in Funchal.

The programme of the meeting is enclosed.