ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book focuses on aspects of global development and poverty reduction that relate to European Community/European Union (EC/EU) policy making. It also focuses on three broad categories: trade and regional integration; agriculture, livelihoods and food security; and modes of policy making and implementation. The European Consensus on Development singled out certain aspects of the EU's trade agenda, in particular, the negotiations in the Doha Round and the creation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), as particularly relevant for the development agenda and the coherence with development objectives. The European Consensus, as indeed most other international policy documents on development, is premised on the idea that development and poverty reduction are not influenced only by development assistance policies. Poverty reduction has also been the guiding principle of EC/EU development cooperation since the turn of the century.
