Introduction

This chapter examines the five largest European donors: France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. It analyzes the basic organizational structure, including a description of the major development assistance agencies, and their role in the formulation of development assistance policy. The once predominant role of the United States, which in the early 1960s accounted for as much as 60 percent of all development assistance, has steadily eroded. Led in large part by funds from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) assistance during the mid 1970s rapidly expanded to over five billion dollars in 1975. OPEC contributions exceeded 2.5 percent of OPEC’s collective GNP, and amounted to about 28 percent of total assistance disbursements from all donors. Given the relative size of the current European contribution to bilateral development assistance, it clearly merits additional attention. Collectively, Europe disburses more assistance than the United States and OPEC combined.