Maurizio Carbone

Mission Impossible: the European Union and Policy Coherence for Development

Abstract The principle of policy coherence has been the object of a contentious debate in the European Union’s external relations, though discussions have been limited mainly to its foreign policy and its ability to speak with one voice in the international arena. Despite being institutionalized in the Treaty of Maastricht, policy coherence for development (PCD), which implies taking into account the needs and interest of developing countries in non‐aid policies, failed to make headway in the EU, remaining the unheeded concern of some NGOs and a small group of member states. A change in direction occurred in the early 2000s when the European Commission, taking advantage of a number of favourable conditions and using an astute strategy, managed to set an ambitious agenda for the EU. This article, nevertheless, shows that promoting PCD risks being a ‘mission impossible’ for whoever attempts it due to the interplay of various issues and interests, the different commitment to international development of the member states, and the EU’s institutional framework.

The European Union and International Development : The Politics of Foreign Aid

Introduction 1. Leadership in the European Union: Theorizing the European Commission 2. The Politics of Foreign Aid in the European Union 3. Volume of Aid: Reversing Trends in International Development 4. Global Public Goods: More Aid, Better Aid or Managing Globalisation? 5. Untying of Aid: Enhancing the Quality of Development Assistance. Conclusion

The European Union, Good Governance and Aid Co-ordination

Abstract This article reviews the EUs distinctive approach to good governance, based on policy dialogue and incentives, in light of the significant transformations that have occurred in EU development policy since the early 2000s. The argument made here is that only when the EU decided to act as a single actor was it possible to agree on a harmonised approach to good governance. By doing so, the EU sought to promote aid effectiveness and at the same time raise its profile in international politics, thus challenging the leadership of the World Bank and of the USA. It is concluded that not only has the gap between the EUs lofty ambitions and the implementation record remained wide, but also that the search for better co-ordination between European donors has resulted in decreased policy space for developing countries.

Between EU actorness and aid effectiveness: The logics of EU aid to Sub-Saharan Africa

This article argues that, by acting autonomously and cohesively, the European Union (EU) was able to shape the global agenda on foreign aid throughout the 2000s, particularly on the issue of donor complementarity and division of labour. By contrast, its ability to promote aid effectiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa was significantly constrained by national aid bureaucracies and by the complex aid architecture. More generally, to fully understand whether or not the EU is an effective actor, it is necessary to take into account how EU actorness contributes to the issue being discussed. At headquarter level, the European Commission sought to enhance EU actorness, which was seen as key to aid effectiveness. On the ground, national aid bureaucracies resisted EU actorness in the name of aid effectiveness.

The domestic foundations of Italy's foreign and development policies

The end of the Cold War and the so-called First Republic produced new challenges and opportunities for Italys foreign and development policies, as well as a new set of domestic factors shaping those policies. Despite various examples of bipartisan consensus, there are fundamental differences in the way the centre-right and centre-left coalitions now pursue foreign policy goals (i.e. neo-Atlanticism and pragmatic bilateralism for the centre-right, neo-Europeanism and effective multilateralism for the centre-left). In addition, the increased fragmentation of the political system and the politicisation of foreign policy have resulted in a number of quarrels within the two coalitions. Finally, the trajectory of Italys development policy is opposite to that of its foreign policy: rising activism during the Cold War, declining interest since the early 1990s. Italy is one of the largest donors in terms of volume of aid – though only in absolute terms – yet it has faced a bipartisan failure in its relations with the developing world.

The European Union and China's rise in Africa: Competing visions, external coherence and trilateral cooperation

Abstract This study analyses the impact of Chinas rise in Africa on the European Union (EU). Contrary to conventional wisdom, it argues that the EUs renewed interest in Africa is not the result of Chinas new assertiveness in the continent, but is a consequence of the EUs ambitions to become an influential global actor and the consequent search for a more coherent external policy. Africa, thus, represented an ideal venue in which different EU actors could simultaneously pursue traditional development goals together with new political objectives. Moreover, the existence of three competing visions within the EU negatively affected its ability to constructively engage with China: the European Commission sought to affirm the EUs aspiration to become an influential global actor; the European Parliament projected its preference for a value-based development policy, blended with paternalistic overtones; the Council of the European Union was driven more by the emotional reactions of some member states, who did not want to lose their position as Africas main reference point. Unsurprisingly, the result has been a confused message, which China has found hard to follow, never mind Africa, since they were not effectively involved in the process and were sceptical about the whole idea of ‘trilateral cooperation’.

International development and the European Union's external policies: changing contexts, problematic nexuses, contested partnerships

This special section explores and explains how the European Unions (EUs) overall approach to international development has evolved since the beginning of the twenty-first century. At the international level, the rise of a group of emerging economies has not only provided developing countries with greater choices, but has also further enhanced their agency, thus questioning the EUs leadership and even relevance in international development. At the European level, the various (paradigmatic) shifts in each of the three key external policies—trade, security and foreign policy—and the EUs aspiration to project a coherent external action have collided with the EUs commitment to international development. Numerous tensions characterize the various nexuses in EU external relations, which ultimately challenge the EUs international legitimacy and (self-proclaimed) identity as a champion of the interests of the developing world. Nevertheless, the EU has made more progress than is generally acknowledged in making its external policies more coherent with its development policy. Moreover, the EUs relationship with developing countries has gradually become less asymmetrical, though not because of the EUs emphasis on partnership and ownership but more because of the increased agency of developing countries.

The Europeanisation of development policy

ABSTRACT Despite the growing academic interest in the development policy of the European Union (EU) and the booming literature on Europeanisation, the impact of Europe on national development policies has largely been overlooked. By exploring member state interactions with and through the EU level across a number of different issues, this study looks to herald a new research agenda. The picture emerging from the empirical evidence is that of modest degrees of Europeanisation. In fact, resistance to Europe can be attributed to different (f)actors, some operating at the domestic level (e.g. established cultural and normative structures, different types of veto players) and others related to the existence of several groupings with alternative policy prescriptions (e.g. Nordic donors, like-minded countries, former colonial powers). Even where there are signs of convergence (or divergence), they may be due to other influences rather than pressures coming from the EU.

New pathways in international development : gender and civil society in EU policy

Introduction: Integrating gender and civil society into European Union development policy, Maurizio Carbone and Marjorie Lister. Gender: Gender and European Union development policy, Marjorie Lister Gender in ACP-EU relations: the Cotonou Agreement, Karin Arts Gender equality and EU development policy towards Latin America, Gloria Angulo and Christian Freres Gender in the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, Jan Orbie Gender in European Union development initiatives in Asia, Carolyn I. Sobritchea Gender mainstreaming in EU external relations: Lessons from the Eastern enlargement, Charlotte Bretherton. Civil Society: Civil society and European Union development policy, Stephen Hurt Mainstreaming civil society in ACP-EU cooperation, Jean Bossuyt The European Union and strengthening civil society in Africa, Gordon Crawford EU-Mercosur Relations: The challenge of civil society cooperation, Paraskevi Bessa-Rodriques Civil society cooperation between the EU and its Southern Mediterranean neighbours, Ulrike Reinhardt EU-Asia relations: the role of civil society in the ASEM process, Sebastian Bersick European NGOs in EU development policy: Between frustration and resistance, Maurizio Carbone Index.

Introduction: The new season of EU development policy

The European Union’s (EU) development policy dates back to the Treaty of Rome. In a first phase (late 1950s to mid-1980s), it was limited in both geographical and policy scopes, but very progressive. The debate between regionalists, which stressed the strategic links with European (former) colonies, and globalists, which placed more emphasis on poverty eradication, culminated in the adoption of an innovative co-operation agreement with a heterogeneous group of countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). The Lomé Convention, built on predictable aid flows and trade privileges, with a strong emphasis on partnership, was a model for North-South relations, but it gradually lost some of its progressive elements. Relations with other developing regions were minimal, though in the early 1970s the EU launched a Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) to grant preferential trade advantages to non-ACP developing countries (Grilli, 1993). In the second phase (late 1980s to the end of the 1990s), EU development policy broadened both its geographical and its policy scopes. This was a decade of profound transformation, in the international arena with the end of the Cold War and globalisation, in the European Union with two enlargement rounds and the adoption of the Treaty of Maastricht, and in the field of international development, with the supremacy of the Washington Consensus. All these events significantly affected the evolution of EU development policy. The ACP states had to share their privileged position with other regions, notably Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. More generally, as a consequence of the Treaty of Maastricht which set in motion the common foreign and security policy (CFSP), the EU wanted to become an influential global actor and therefore got actively involved in all regions of the developing world. The resulting overstretched and fragmented development policy generated significant criticism, both at the policy and academic level. At the policy level, various member states started threatening to repatriate their foreign aid. At the academic level, a debate started on the real added value of EU development policy (Arts & Dickson, 2004; Holland, 2002; Lister, 1998, 1999). This special issue of Perspectives on European Politics and Society deals with the third phase (post-2000), in which EU development policy has become more