Brussels should become the hub for a new €5 billion fund to address the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) according to Simon Maxwell, Director of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). Through greater collaboration, the European Union (EU) could become one of three major global players, taking its place alongside the World Bank and the United Nations. Maxwell’s comments come as the first anniversary of the G8 commitments to Africa approaches, and in the wake of the formation by British Prime Minister Tony Blair of an ‘Africa Progress Panel’ to monitor the aid pledges made at Gleneagles last year.