This high-level public online debate will discuss the key lessons learnt of the German Presidency of the EU Council from the Covid-19 pandemic for the future of EU development policy. As Germany’s Presidency has largely been dominated by fostering solutions to acute crisis situations in Europe and in partner countries, our panellists, including State Secretary Martin Jäger (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, BMZ), Koen Doens (Director General DG DEVCO), Teresa Ribeiro (Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Portugal, tbc) and Vera Songwe (Executive Secretary UN Economic Commission for Africa, tbc) will discuss Germany’s challenges and successes in finding an adequate global response to the pandemic for the EU. In particular, the discussion will focus on the launch of ‚Team Europe‘ – an attempt to better coordinate EU institutions and member states’ efforts to address the consequences of the pandemic. In addition, the event will also reflect and discuss the future of European development policy in light of key challenges ahead. While 2020 has been dominated by debates on short-term responses to Covid-19, long-term recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic needs to put sustainable development – in the EU and in partner countries – centre stage. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development together with the European Green Deal, require the EU – domestically and globally – to drive transformation processes forward in key areas of sustainable development. The period up to 2030 offers the EU a decade to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and to create long-lasting impact on key sustainability transformations, but also requires decisive action and readjustment of development policy. The event will thus discuss how the EU can successfully implement the 2030 Agenda and promote related sustainability transformations in its development policy against the background of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and required short-term measures.
