Minister of State Power highlights importance of Lisbon Treaty in the fight against global poverty

The Minister of State for Overseas Development, Peter Power T.D., has said the Lisbon Treaty puts poverty eradication at the heart of the EU’s development goals. Minister Power was speaking yesterday (Monday) at a conference to mark Africa Day, organised by Trinity College Dublin and African Embassies in Ireland. In his address, Minister Power said: 

“The Lisbon Treaty puts poverty at the heart of the development goals of the European Union. The Treaty provides that the Union will take account of development cooperation in all its policies.  It also recognises a more complex set of development issues, including climate change, energy, free and fair trade, humanitarian action and civil dialogue. Failure to implement the Treaty would have negative consequences not just for Africa, but for the entire developing world.”

Speaking following the lecture, Minister Power said:
 
“The European Union already has a broad range of instruments at its disposal.  But the Lisbon Treaty will bring greater coherence to them.  This will ensure the Union has better analysis and better expertise available when tackling poverty and humanitarian issues.”

In his lecture, Minister Power outlined Ireland’s significant and proactive role in shaping EU policy on development. He said that it is through Ireland’s membership of the Union that we shape policies that impact on the lives of the citizens of the continent of Africa.

The conference, ‘Africa – Moving Forward’, was also addressed by Dr. Louis Kasekende, Chief Economist with the African Development Bank, and Ambassador Tunji Olagunju, Special Adviser to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.

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26th May 2009
Press Office