Press Release: Coherence between EU policies and development objectives has improved but further progress can be achieved

The European Commission has adopted the European Union's first Report on Policy Coherence for Development (PCD). The Report highlights the interactions and complementarities between development policy and twelve other internal and external EU policies that have an impact on developing countries. PCD plays a central role in reinforcing the EU's contribution to developing countries' progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. The aim is to maximise the positive impact of these policies on partner countries and to avoid incoherencies. The overall conclusion is that the coherence between EU policies and the Development objectives has improved but more can be achieved. In 2005, the EU agreed to PCD commitments in 12 policy areas: trade; environment; climate change; security; agriculture; fisheries; social dimension of globalisation, employment and decent work; migration; research and innovation; information society; transport; and energy. The importance of PCD is reflected in the European Consensus on Development.