ABSTRACT
During its fifty years of existence, the EU has emerged as a major actor in international development cooperation, both in terms of granting development aid and as a trading bloc. In addition, the development policy of the EU gradually expanded beyond aid and trade and now addresses virtually every dimension of the development process of developing countries, including the promotion of poverty eradication, sustainable development, good governance, respect for human rights and peace and security. For a long time development cooperation was practised without a clear legal basis. It was the Maastricht Treaty (1992) which at last filled the legal gap with a new section on development cooperation. Subsequently, the Lisbon Reform Treaty proposed to integrate the principles and objectives of development cooperation into the general articles on the Union’s external action. Meanwhile, special development cooperation relationships had evolved with countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) through the successive Lomé Conventions and the subsequent Cotonou Partnership Agreement. Currently, the preferential nature of the ACP-EU relationship is under stress resulting from EU outreach to non-ACP countries (Latin America, Asia and China) and the pressure to conclude new trading arrangements with the ACP countries which are compatible with the requirements of the World Trade Organization. While the EU’s development aid performance has improved considerably in recent years, the Union still faces huge challenges in its development policy. A primary challenge is to ensure its coherence with other fields of policy, such as agriculture, fisheries and trade.
