Cost of Non-Europe in Development Policy

Abstract

There is broad agreement among academics and practitioners that the benefits of increased EU coordination in the area of development cooperation would clearly outweigh the costs. The EU is indeed a coordination pioneer, having taken up a number of internal and external commitments. This notwithstanding, much potential remains untapped, in terms of both quantifiable and non-quantifiable benefits. The challenge is how to better realise these while taking into account both political economy factors for the actors involved, namely EU institutions and Member States, and the particular situations of partner countries and their key contributions to coordination efforts on the ground.