Research Papers

This paper looks into the issue of how EU development policy can respond to a changing development landscape, characterised by a different geography of power and a changing geography of global poverty. The question of how to differentiate its partnerships and how to best engage with middle-income countries (MICs) and the extent to which they continue to receive EU aid have been among the most discussed issues in ongoing debates about how to modernise EU development policy. This paper addresses two interlinked questions: what are the key challenges for EU development policy resulting from a different geography of wealth and power? What are the implications on policy, instruments and at the institutional level if the EU chooses to better differentiate between partners and their development needs? The central argument of this paper is that the question of EU aid to MICs needs to be answered in the context of a changing leitmotif of EU development policy. If poverty reduction remains the key objective of EU development policy, MICs should not be excluded based on their average income as national aggregates and average income per capita are potentially misleading criteria to inform aid allocations. If the objectives of development policy are extended and conceptualised as contributing to major global challenges such as climate change, food insecurity, financial instability, communicable diseases, migration, conflict and insecurity continued cooperation with influential MICs becomes even more important. Rather than withdrawing from these, continued but different kinds of development cooperation become essential.