European Union

Fourteen international humanitarian organisations are urging the European Commission to rethink its proposed shift to a transactional approach in development cooperation, as seen in a recently leaked draft Briefing Book from the European Commission's Directorate General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA). This Briefing Book will set the direction for EU development in the next EU mandate. The organisations warn that this approach could abandon vulnerable communities in fragile or crisis-affected contexts, leading to devastating consequences for those most at risk and undermining the EU's global relevance in an increasingly fragile world. 

Today, EU countries rubber-stamped the deal on the EU’s new supply chain rules. This law — the Corporate Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) — aims to make companies accountable for the damage they cause to people and the planet. 

Today, EU ambassadors failed to rubber-stamp the recently agreed deal on new EU supply chain rules. This law — the Corporate Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) — aims to make companies accountable for the damage they cause to people and the planet. 

Today, EU countries agreed on a renewed EU global health strategy - the EU’s global vision for funding and international cooperation in relation to health. In response, Oxfam EU health expert, Piotr Kolczynski, said: “In the EU’s Health Commissioner's own words, where you live should not determine whether you live or die. But EU countries only pay heed to these words within Europe’s borders. In the rest of the world, the EU is playing the industry's game and undermining the right to health of the world's poorest people. 

Humanitarian needs around the world are outpacing available funding. The EU must take the right response when humanitarian crises hit, be they natural disasters or conflicts, while spearheading processes to ensure an effective and locally-led humanitarian response and ensuring international law is always upheld.

The global food system is broken. We need fair and sustainable food systems. The EU can support by strengthening food production at a local level in poorer countries and promoting the rights of farmers, especially women farmers, who are key in the fight against hunger and poverty.

The EU and EU countries must commit to a feminist foreign policy. This means an intersectional feminist approach which puts gender, racial, economic and climate justice at its heart, prioritises decolonisation and puts the voices of those who have historically been least represented at the centre of policymaking. 

The EU must relaunch its relationship with Latin America. The relationship must focus on ending inequality in the world’s most unequal region.

The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the toys we buy should be free from human suffering and environmental destruction. Oxfam advocates for EU rules to make companies accountable for the damage they cause to people and the planet.   

Oxfam advocates for the EU to be a global champion for civic space. Civic space enables citizens to speak out against power, peacefully protest, express their needs, interests, and concerns, and propose and negotiate solutions.