With the arrival of the Rutte II cabinet in 2012, a wish of the members of the Fair, Green and Global (FGG) Alliance came true; international trade and development cooperation –‘trade and aid’- came under the supervision of the same minister. This opened up the way for a stronger focus on (and advocacy for) policy coherence. Because: policy coherence in rich countries is the key to sustainable and equitable development around the world. To actually help strengthen both international trade and development cooperation, Minister Ploumen was –and Minister Kaag currently is- engaged in a balancing act.
In ‘Balancing Trade and Aid’, the members of the FGG Alliance have formulated a number of recommendations to Minister Ploumen, based on their years of experience in the field of policy coherence and international trade.