The two day event will also provide an opportunity for the development community to discuss the European Commission’s new approach to development cooperation the "Agenda for Change" – a commitment to increase the impact of aid by focusing on fewer sectors and those countries most in need.

Member States shall therefore define the approach to community-led local development in the EAFRD and, where appropriate, in the ERDF, the ESF or the EMFF in accordance with Article 15(2) and shall indicate in the Partnership Agreement the main challenges to be tackled in this way, the main objectives and priorities for community-led local development, the types of territories to be covered, the specific role to be attributed to local action groups in the delivery of strategies and the role envisaged for the EAFRD and where appropriate for the ERDF, the ESF or the EMFF in imp ...[+++]lementing community-led local development strategies in different types of territories such as rural, urban and coastal areas and the corresponding co-ordination mechanisms.

Building the capacity of the actors in development and improving the institutional framework necessary for social cohesion, for the functioning of a democratic society and market economy, and for the emergence of an active and organised civil society shall be integral to the approach.

The second part will deal with the actors of development: the Commission and the Member States as well as the recipients of aid, taking into account the partnership approach and the principles of ownership and participation.

Building the capacity of the actors in development and improving the institutional framework necessary for social cohesion, for the functioning of a democratic society and market economy, and for the emergence of an active and organised civil society shall be integral to the approach.

There is agreement notably on most of the principles and aims of the next convention, including the idea of extending cooperation to include non-governmental protagonists, the approach to rural development and food security, the stepping up of regional cooperation, the importance of a more systematic application of environmental and population policies, the recognition that neither the Community's single market nor the sugar protocol are matters for negotiation, a truce in the bananas issue, the importance of maintaining and strengthening Stabex and Sysmin, recognition of the role of businesses, notably small businesses and the private s ...[+++]ector, in industrialization and economic development, and, finally, the importance of services.