The authors of this text assess why EU development policy has become largely ineffective, citing as reasons the liberalization of trade and the growing influence of US and international players such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund upon EU policy.
Events of the past twenty years, including the Cold War and the War on Terror, have meant that the environments of international development co-operation have changed extensively, with dramatic consequences for development policies and North-South relations in general. Perspectives on European Development Cooperation takes stock of such changes, describing and analyzing the new European development agenda, including the role of the European Union. Essays by prominent authorities in the field examine the development policies of individual donor countries and focus on the principles and objectives governing aid strategies and the performances of these policies. This book will be of interest to students of development studies and those involved in determining development policy.
Designed to replace Martin Holland's The European Union and the Third World, this new text provides systematic coverage of the European Union's policies in relation to the developing world in the 21st century and includes substantial coverage of governance issues and the relationship between development initiatives and European integration.
“An excellent collection of essays that illustrate how EU member states’ wish to implement normatively inspired policies is confronted with the geopolitical realities of today’s world. The authors succeed in presenting an even-handed account of the way in which the tensions between norms and geopolitics play out, as well as of the responses given by EU policy makers.” —Wil Hout, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, the Netherlands The European Union (EU), while collectively constituting the world’s largest development provider, has come under internal and external pressures over the past decade. This book argues that the EU’s development policies are situated between the bloc’s normative ideals and the global geopolitical realities in which it is embedded. In order to investigate these tensions, it asks how far the 'normative power' Europe concept exists in EU development policies, and how far it is recognizable in the EU’s focus on human rights, the rule of law, and sustainability. In light of the tension in EU development policies between those ideals and the necessity to project neoliberal and geopolitical interests, how do receiving countries perceive the EU’s development efforts? This volume, complete with contributions from academics from a wide range of disciplines based all around the globe, provides answers to these essential questions.
Annotation. This title can be previewed in Google Books - http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9789089643100. This title is available in the OAPEN Library - http://www.oapen.org.
This comparative study of rules governing development assistance asks how accountability, human rights and sovereignty are preserved while combating poverty.
The states from Central and Eastern Europe that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 provide a fascinating series of case studies for scholars interested in politics, IR and development studies. The interest comes from the fact that never before had so many recipients of EU aid joined the Union and taken on the commitment to become aid donors. The journey from recipients of aid to aid donors is interesting because, not only does it tell us about development policy in CEE states, this policy area gives us an insight into governmental structures in CEE states, foreign policy priorities, public opinion, the role of NGOs/civil society and how well CEE states have taken on board the EU acquis (the EU’s rule book). The book also explores whether the development cooperation programmes of the majority of CEESs reflect the so-called "transition experience" of moving from authoritarianism and socialism to democracy and modern liberalism. It also explores the extent to which these donors are aligned with the approaches of the DAC donors. Finally, by extending the scrutiny to the bottom-up development activities of non-state actors and public opinion, the book will analyse the dynamics of the solidarity of the former ‘East’ with the global ‘South’. This book was published as a special issue of Perspectives on European Politics and Society
The emergence of a common security and foreign policy has been one of the most contentious issues accompanying the integration of the European Union. In this book, Michael Smith examines the specific ways foreign policy cooperation has been institutionalized in the EU, the way institutional development affects cooperative outcomes in foreign policy, and how those outcomes lead to new institutional reforms. Smith explains the evolution and performance of the institutional procedures of the EU using a unique analytical framework, supported by extensive empirical evidence drawn from interviews, case studies, official documents and secondary sources. His perceptive and well-informed analysis covers the entire history of EU foreign policy cooperation, from its origins in the late 1960s up to the start of the 2003 constitutional convention. Demonstrating the importance and extent of EU foreign/security policy, the book will be of interest to scholars, researchers and policy-makers.
Timely and incisive, this book offers a critical insight into the legal structure of EU development cooperation policy, exploring the innate complexities that give rise to legal challenges in this crucial area of EU external action. Investigating the interaction between the key tenets of coherence and conferral, Dr. Tina Van den Sanden assesses how the Union’s legal framework affects the attainment of its development cooperation objectives.
This book provides a timely evaluation of the EU's ability to act internationally and coordinate policy in a time when it also seeks to meet shifting demands of international cooperation. These include global sustainable development, the challenge of multilateralism and the changing geopolitical order. Analysing the networks of officials and policy professionals in EU development policy, the book yields theoretical insights into dominant processes that characterise EU governance in international cooperation and assesses their role for policy coordination. Overall, this book concludes that EU policy coordination evades intergovernmental control and demonstrates how the agency of EU institutions depends on efforts of member state officials to defend their priorities and identities. Finally, it shows the need to better understand the EU as a collective international actor, beyond the widespread concern with institutional adjustments, which continuously fail to produce the intended outcomes. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of European and EU politics, EU foreign policy, EU external relations and more broadly to international relations and international development.