European Year for Development (2015)

2015 will be a pivotal year for development: it is the last year for achieving the collectively agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the year in which major decisions will have to be taken on the framework that will replace them.

Four years after the adoption of the Communication on the Agenda for Change1, 2015 will also be a good time to communicate the concrete results of the reform of development policy which that represented.

The aim of the EYD2015 is to inform EU citizens about EU development cooperation, highlighting what the European Union can already achieve as the biggest aid donor in the world and how it could do even more with the combined strength of its Member States and its institutions.

The EYD2015 seeks to stimulate the active interest of European citizens in development cooperation and foster a sense of responsibility and opportunity as regards their participation in policy formulation and implementation.

As in previous European Years, additional measures will include communication campaigns, conferences, events, initiatives, studies and surveys at European, national, regional and local level, to convey key messages, disseminate information on EU development cooperation and invite EU citizens to participate and actively contribute. The Commission may identify other activities to contribute to the objectives of the EYD2015.

Regarding coordination at Union level and implementation, The Commission intends to cooperate closely with Member States, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the bodies and associations active in development issues.