All Talk and Little Action? The Impact of the Central and Eastern EU Member States on the EU's Development Policy
Monika Hellmeyer, London School of Economics and Political Science
Prior to the ‘big bang’ enlargement in 2004, when ten countries including eight from Central and Eastern Europe (EU-8) acceded to the European Union, there was much academic speculation about the repercussions of the Eastern enlargement on the EU’s development policy (Carbone 2004; Dauderstädt 2005; Granell 2005). Indeed the Eastern European enlargement did not only present a unique challenge to the EU and its development policy but also to the Central and Eastern European countries. Never before have so many former recipients of EU assistance in such a short time become donors of EU aid (Carbone 2004; Lightfoot 2008). While so far every EU enlargement has widened the regional coverage of EU development cooperation and expanded its aid toolbox, the effects of the Eastern European enlargement have been modest (Carbone 2011; Van Reisen 2007). The paper analyses why the CEECs’ impact on the EU’s development cooperation has been limited so far. It starts with a review of material and ideational factors, which account for member governments’ impact on the EU’s external policy-making process. In a second step it highlights how and in what regard EU member states can affect the allocation of EU aid and formulation of EU development policy. Finally, it presents some preliminary results concerning the conditions under which member states succeed in shaping EU development cooperation.