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High Representative / Vice-President Federica Mogherini who represented the EU at today's conference in London said: "Somalia's future matters to Europe and our support matters to Somalia. The 200 million we have announced today strengthens the EU's leading role in supporting the country's development, stability and security. We already play a major role for peace in the country through the three active missions in the country as well as our support to the African Union peacekeeping mission AMISOM. We believe that the people of Somalia can and should shape the future of their country. We want Somalia to rise again and today we demonstrate it in very practical terms."

The development funding announced today will be channelled through the European Union Trust Fund for Africa, which aims to address the root causes of destabilization, forced displacement and irregular migration.

Neven Mimica, Commissioner in charge of International Cooperation and Development, added: "Today's support package of 200 million is new and additional to what we already do in Somalia. It will focus on building effective and sustainable responses to security challenges, on creating economic opportunities and on building state legitimacy and democratic governance. We are also concerned by the severe drought in Somalia and the humanitarian challenges this brings. Together with EU Member States, we have already allocated than 460 million humanitarian and development assistance for that purpose. We call on other partners to stand up to the level of the challenge as well."

The EU's support will help to accelerate Somalia's economic recovery. This will be done by supporting the reforms needed to ensure Somalia full re-engagement with the International Financial Institutions, access to multilateral finance and debt relief. This will also help laying the foundations for more inclusive, stable politics including a roadmap to a more inclusive electoral process in 2020.

The EU is a long standing partner to Somalia in development aid, peacekeeping operations and humanitarian aid. For the period 2015-2020, the EU and its Member States cooperation including development, humanitarian aid and peacekeeping operations amounts to 3.4 billion.

Background:

The Somalia Conference took place today in London, co-chaired by the Federal Government of Somalia, the United Nations and the United Kingdom. The Conference aims to agree a Security Pact which sets the foundations for Somalia long-term security and on a New Partnership for Somalia between the International Community and Somalia based on principles of mutual accountability. The Conference is also the opportunity to take stock of the response to the humanitarian crisis affecting Somalia.

Today's support package comes on top of the 286 million, which the European Commission has allocated under the 11th European Development Fund (for the period 2014-2020), which focusses on strengthening state functions, improving food security and resilience as well as education for young people. EU financing is implemented mostly through grants implemented by UN agencies and international NGOs, or contributions to Trust Funds.

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Factsheet: EU support for Somalia

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The European Union steps up its support to Somalia with 200 million at the London Conference - EU News

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Emmanuel Macron Embraces EU to Put France 'Back in the Picture' New York Times For the past year, and longer, the European Union has been politically radioactive, deemed untouchable by most mainstream candidates for national office in Europe. Yet Mr. Macron, 39, not only embraced the embattled bloc, he proclaimed membership of it ... Macron's victory buoys the European Union after a string of setbacksWashington Post Will Emmanuel Macron save the European Union?The Week Magazine What Macron's Victory in France Means for the European UnionThe Atlantic Voice of America -Times of India (blog) -Express.co.uk all 10,276 news articles »

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Emmanuel Macron Embraces EU to Put France 'Back in the Picture' - New York Times

BRUSSELS The European Union and China will hold a summit in Brussels on June 2, four EU officials said, the first since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump that has united the two economic powers against global warming and trade protectionism.

China's premier and the heads of the European Union's main institutions will aim to deliver a strong statement in support of the Paris climate deal that Trump has threatened to withdraw from, the officials said.

China asked that the annual the summit, normally held in mid-July, be brought forward to press home President Xi Jinping's defense of open trade at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, in response to Trump's protective stance.

While the date has not formally been announced, EU officials said it had been agreed with Beijing. The EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in mid-April and said afterwards that she had discussed the summit.

"The EU and China will send a very, very clear message that we will stick to the Paris climate agreement regardless of what the United States does," said one EU official. "Climate is a big part of the summit ... It is very high on the agenda."

The expected final summit statement will likely add to the pressure on Trump that other Group of Seven leaders will seek to apply at a summit in Italy on May 26-27, the officials said.

Trump, who openly doubts climate change is man-made and made a campaign pledge to "cancel" the 2015 Paris Agreement, has postponed a decision on whether to stick to or abandon the global accord.

He is expected to make a decision on that after returning from the Group of Seven summit, according to the White House.

China is looking to the European Union to fill what it sees as a leadership vacuum on a host of issues in the face of a more protectionist and inward-looking Washington.

China has also said it wants to see a strong, united Europe and has looked on with concern at the fallout of Britain's decision to leave the EU, nervous about losing London's support for free trade within the bloc and the economic damage that Brexit could cause to the EU, China's largest trading partner.

The European Union remains wary of its second-largest trading partner, concerned by China's massive steel exports, its militarization of islands in the South China Sea and a turn toward greater authoritarianism under China's President Xi.

"Without the United States, it is harder to stand up for human rights, but we will bring it up with China," a second EU official said, referring to freedom of expression, assembly and religion, as well as a crackdown on foreign non-governmental organizations in China.

But it does broadly agree with China on trade, despite a long-running spat with Beijing on what Europe sees as China's dumping of low-cost goods on European markets.

While Trump has pulled out of a multilateral trade agreement with Asia-Pacific nations and vowed to renegotiate the U.S. free-trade deal with Canada and Mexico, the EU as the world's biggest trading bloc welcome's China's commitment to trade.

(Writing by Robin Emmott; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

BRUSSELS EU nations agreed on Friday on new draft rules for car approvals despite opposition from Germany, EU sources said, in a bid to prevent a repeat of the Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal.

MEXICO CITY Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto wrote to Leonardo DiCaprio on Twitter on Thursday in a bid to reassure the Hollywood actor his government was taking steps to protect a rare porpoise in Mexican waters teetering on the brink of extinction.

TOKYO Japan's weather bureau said on Friday it sees a 50 percent chance of the El Nino weather pattern emerging by the beginning of autumn.

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EU and China to hold summit on June 2, focus on climate | Reuters - Reuters

Romania's membership in the European Union has brought "peace and stability to our continent," the European Commission's president said Thursday, adding there should not be a second-rate Europe.

Jean-Claude Juncker told the country's Parliament that Romanians are "a courageous and committed people."

Juncker said that Romania's EU membership in 2007 had extended the bloc's reach to the Black Sea that forms Romania's eastern border.

"In the EU, there have never been second-rate countries or countries that are left behind," Juncker said. However he said European countries could progress "with different rhythms. A Europe with several speeds is foreseen in treaties."

There is some sensitivity, even resentment, among Romanians about their place in the EU. A decade after joining, Romania still isn't part of the visa-free Schengen travel zone and the EU is still monitoring the government's progress on judicial reform and fighting corruption.

Juncker said Romania deserves to be a Schengen member as soon as possible.

His comments came days after Romanian President Klaus Iohannis told lawmakers that the country is "not a second-rate state in the EU," and urged citizens to "overcome an internal barrier that prevents us from manifesting our national capacity and limits us to unjustly considering ourselves a second-level state."

Juncker said when Romania takes over the presidency of the EU in 2019, it should no longer be monitored by the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism implemented when it joined the bloc.

"One cannot preside over the European Union while under the impression that one is controlled by the others," he said, noting he had personally promised this at the beginning of his mandate.

Speaking later at a reception at the Cotroceni presidential palace, Iohannis underscored the European credentials of Romanians, calling them "the most pro-European citizens of the union,"

Iohannis said the country could "reinvigorate and consolidate" the European project. "In a region marked by complex challenges, Romania has the advantage of being a source of stability."

Juncker warmly greeted former Romanian prime ministers, and tightly hugged Traian Basescu, president from 2004 to 2014, kissing him on the forehead.

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EU official: Romania's membership brings peace, stability - ABC News