EU Development Policy

Description

One of the most significant trends of the 21st century has been the rapid development of the European Union’s involvement in global international affairs. Characterizations of Europe’s global role vary enormously: to the one extreme, the EU is defined as a ‘Superpower’ in the making (as a leading development actor), to the other it has been criticised in the past as essentially a “hobbled” civilian actor that eschews military intervention. The literature even debates whether the EU possesses ‘actorness’ and can be compared with State actors effectively.  More recently the notion of “Normative Power Europe” (NPE) has emerged. This course examines and critically evaluates these competing interpretations.

In terms of the EU’s international relations, a broad range of activities ranging from traditional development policy issues to those concerning trade, human rights and third country agreements are discussed. While the EU’s global development role is the focus of the course, this should not be understood in isolation as the internal European integration process provides the necessary context within which the EU’s external actions in development can best be analyzed.

The course employs a variety of integration theories as its organising principle.  It poses three general questions.

1. To what extent have collective EU development initiatives replaced traditional sovereign bilateral initiatives?
2. What are the consequences and the impact of EU development policy – on third countries, on issues and on the EU itself?
3. Is the EU an effective “normative” development power?

Can we still meaningfully discuss British, French, or German development policy, or have the EU’s legal competences assumed precedence? It is important to evaluate both the scope of EU development competence vis-à-vis member states as well as the limitations on such action.

The course is intentionally contemporary and is policy driven in focus. Specific student interests can be catered for in both the seminar discussion topics and written assessments.