Assistant Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Batistić-Kos 14 and 15 July in Florence attended an informal meeting of development ministers which discussed the post-2015 development framework. Member states expressed satisfaction that the EU priorities were included in the draft of the Sustainable Development Goals of the Open Working Group in New York.
Batistić-Kos said that Croatia’s priorities in health, education, gender equality, women empowerment and crisis resilience were integrated into the draft, which represents a solid basis for further discussion. Although peace and security were not incorporated as separate goals, Croatia’s experience shows that they are indeed a precondition for development, Batistić-Kos said, stating as proof that it was as late as 2003 that Croatia had reached the 1990 growth rate.
The meeting concluded that the key messages regarding the EU priorities on human rights, women empowerment, rule of law, peace and security needed to be pointed out through a dialogue with G77+China and that by year’s end Council’s conclusions needed to be reached in order for them to serve as a basis for further talks.