ABSTRACT
The conclusion discusses the books substantive and theoretical implications. In terms of the EU’s attempts at enhancing collective action in international cooperation and development, it shows how limits of soft integration are already built into the process of formulating common policy norms. Policy professionals pursue competing understandings of how the EU contributes to effective international cooperation. Thus, formulation processes are more than attempts at integration by stealth. Moving beyond development, the conclusion considers how far the book’s approach can be applied to the EU’s foreign policy more generally. The conclusion ends by exploring how the presented implications become relevant in studying the trajectories in EU international cooperation post-2020, especially considering the twin dynamics of subsuming development into the EU’s foreign policy and the shifting development paradigm. This may break down both scholarly and political silos in the study of EU international cooperation.
