Schlagwort: Simon Maxwell

EU to the rescue: Priorities for a positive multilateralism

Photo: EU FlagsWe are a long way from 2015. That year, the world committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate – promising to end extreme poverty, address corrosive inequality, boost peace and prosperity, and stop climate change.

Now in 2018, we already look back at 2015 with nostalgia. This was the high water mark of multilateralism, brought low by the rise of populism and ‘illiberal democracy’. Suddenly, it seems, we are forced to find ways of rescuing the global rules-based order.

Working together after Brexit: why and how Germany, the EU and the UK can continue to collaborate on international development

Image: Eurostar Tunnel

Soft Brexit is unpalatable

Congratulations to Germany, first of all, on reaching 0.7. That is an achievement. We know that 25% of ODA (Official Development Assistance) in 2016 was spent on refugee costs in Germany, a fact that some German commentators have been very keen to publicise. However, we all hope 0.7 will be sustained when refugee costs begin to fall. It is an important signal of commitment, and we know it has influenced others (including France) who have yet to reach the target.