MEP Andrews elected Chair of the European Parliament’s Development Committee

First time since 1987 that an Irish MEP elected to chair a standing committee in the European Parliament

Fianna Fáil MEP for Dublin, Barry Andrews, has today been elected as the Chair of the European Parliament’s Development Committee (DEVE). The committee is one of only 20 standing committees in the Parliament. 

It is the first time since 1987 that an Irish MEP selected to be chair of a standing committee.

DEVE is the committee in the European Parliament responsible for shaping European development and humanitarian policy in partnership with the European Commission and the European Council. It oversees all matters related to humanitarian aid in developing countries. The committee is comprised of 25 full members and 24 substitute members from across all Member States. 

MEP Andrews has also been appointed as a full member of the Industry Research and Energy Committee (ITRE), a substitute member on the Human Rights Committee (DROI) and as a full member of the EU-UK delegation group within the parliament. 

Speaking after his election as Chair, Andrews said: “It is a tremendous honour for me to be elected as chair of DEVE today and I want to thank my colleagues from across all groups for their support. 

“Throughout my career, I have been a steadfast advocate for sustainable development, human rights, and economic growth. These values are at the core of my legislative work and public advocacy. I am passionate about addressing global inequalities and ensuring that development efforts are inclusive and sustainable.

“I have been a member of the DEVE committee since 2020, becoming a strong voice for Renew Europe both within and outside the Parliament. Within the DEVE committee, I acted as rapporteur on a number of files, notably obtaining a commitment from the Parliament that there would be an annual implementation report on the Sustainable Development Goals until 2030.

“At a time of such global insecurity, I feel that our commitment to eradicating poverty, helping those in dire need and improving our relations with developing countries is more important than ever - our foreign policy should focus on Defence, Diplomacy and Development. I look forward to working with colleagues in the parliament, in the European Commission and on the European Council to achieve this” concluded Andrews. 

-ENDS-

Note to Editor:

Annex VI of Parliament’s Rules of Procedures defines the Committee on Development’s competences as follows: 

1. the promotion, implementation and monitoring of the development and cooperation policy of the Union, notably: (a) political dialogue with developing countries, bilaterally and in the relevant international organisations and interparliamentary forums; (b) aid to, and cooperation agreements with, developing countries, notably oversight of effective aid funding and evaluation of output, including in relation to poverty eradication; (c) monitoring of the relationship between the policies of the Member States and those implemented at Union level; (d) promotion of democratic values, good governance and human rights in developing countries; (e) the implementation, monitoring and advancement of policy coherence with regard to development policy; 

2. all legislation, programming and scrutiny of actions carried out under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument-Global Europe (NDICI-Global Europe) and the humanitarian aid instrument, as well as all matters related to humanitarian aid in developing countries and the policy underpinning them; 

3. matters relating to the OACPS-EU Partnership Agreement and relations with the relevant bodies;

 4. matters relating to the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs); 

5. Parliament’s involvement in election observation missions, where appropriate in cooperation with other relevant committees and delegations. 

The Committee coordinates the work of the interparliamentary delegations and ad-hoc delegations falling within its remit.