Brussels. 21 June 2007. As EU leaders gather in Brussels to find a resolution to the Constitutional Treaty Eurostep calls on the European Council to ensure that the role of he EU's development policy is properly addressed. As NGOs working on development we believe that the European Union has a critical role to play in working for the eradication of poverty and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.  In 2004 the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) adopted amendments to the current treaty articles providing the legal basis for the EUs development policy which clarified and strengthened the role of those policies.  These changes were adopted without opposition or controversy.  They should be incorporated into revisions of the treaties.

The Council will discuss and adopt a mandate for an IGC that will finalise changes to the Treaties we would expect these changes to be explicitely identified within the mandate.  We note from the draft mandate that this is not yet the case.

The draft IGC mandate states that certain provisions agreed during the 2004 IGC (which agreed the Constitutional Treaty) should be reintroduced within the current EU treaties (Maastricht and Rome). However development co-operation is not listed within the list of provisions agreed during the 2004 IGC, which should be reintroduced within the current EU treaties.

See text of draft IGC mandate

This means that the articles on development and the ones on economic, financial and technical cooperation (articles 177 to 181a TEC) within the Rome treaty could be in danger of remaining without the changes agreed during the IGC 2004.

We therefore urge the European Council to ensure that there are specific references to these articles in paragraph 17 of the mandate.

Proposal for revision of paragraph 17 of the draft mandate:

"III. Amendments to the EC Treaty (page 4)

17. The amendments as agreed in the 2004 IGC will be inserted into the Treaty by way of specific modifications in the usual manner. They concern the categories and areas of competences, the scope of qualified majority voting and of co-decision, the distinction between legislative and non legislative acts, provisions on the Area of freedom, security and justice, the solidarity clause, the improvements to the governance of the euro, horizontal provisions such as the social clause, specific provisions such as public services, space, energy, civil protection, [add: development co-operation; economic, financial and technical co-operation with third countries;] humanitarian aid, public health, sport, tourism, administrative cooperation, financial provisions (own resources, multiannual financial framework, new budgetary procedure).

Comment: There has been substantive strengthening of both the provisions on development co-operation (articles III-316, III-317 and III-318 of the draft CT) and those on economic, financial and technical co-operation with third countries (articles III-319 and III-320 of the draft CT)  within the draft Constitutional Treaty agreed in the 2004 IGC. These changes should be introduced within the EC treaty through the new IGC, due to start in July 2007."