Basic Orientation and Overall Objectives of European Development Cooperation

During the last three decades the Development Cooperation Policy and Programmes of the European Community/European Union have seen a huge change and extension, starting from measures in favour of the ongoing economic and cultural relations of some member states to former colonies into a wide range of projects and programmes in nearly all developing countries of the world, based on visions and objectives spelled down in numerous basic documents and specific country strategies.

The 15 “old” member states of the European Union have in common many decades of tradition in development cooperation with Latin-American, African, Asian and Pacific countries, based on similar values and overall objectives – even if remarkable differences are continuing in priorities, approaches, institutional structures and methodologies. This common tradition and understanding of development cooperation, carried out both by the state and state owned institutions and organisations as well as civil society organisations and movements, has provided the platform for the philosophy and the growing importance and extension of the development cooperation policy and programmes of the European Union. However in recent years there have been increasing discussions and questioning from politicians as well as from other stakeholders in development cooperation in the member states about the specific role of the Development Cooperation Policy of the EU beside the ongoing Development Cooperation Policies of its member states, on the need of defining more clear the overall objective and the priorities of the Development Cooperation Policy of the EU and on the restructuring of its instruments and approaches with the purpose of increasing its efficiency and efficacy.

In most of the 10 “new” member states of the EU there is little – if any – tradition of a development cooperation policy due to their recent history and their own difficult and often fragile economic and social situation. With the access to the European Union they have adopted the political and legal framework of the Union as well as the underlying values and orientations which are also governing the policy and programmes of the EU in the field of development cooperation. However the formal adoption needs to be accompanied by a parallel process of integration of the people and societies and of the formal political institutions in these countries in the philosophy, orientation, instruments and programmes of the Union. This process has to start with information and dialogue, not only within formal structures, but also in informal exchange and “learn about each other” events.

The workshop with stakeholders in development cooperation in the new European Union Member States on “Basic Orientation and Overall Objectives of European Development Cooperation” created such an opportunity of information, exchange and dialogue as a step of integration of old and new member states in the field of development cooperation. The objectives of the workshop were

(1)to bring key stakeholders from the new member states in the field of development cooperation together with decision makers and experts in charge of this field in the European Institutions in order to get to know each others

(2)to provide these stakeholders from the new member states in the field of development cooperation with authentic information about the principles, philosophy, orientation, approaches and priorities of the European Development Cooperation Policy

(3)to give decision makers and experts in charge of development cooperation in the European Institutions the opportunity to deepen their understanding on the situation of development cooperation policies, programmes and actors in the new member states

(4)to support the integration of the stakeholders in development cooperation in the new member states in the development cooperation policy and programmes of the European Union – not only in the implementation of the instruments, but also in the discussion and formulation of the new basic orientation and policy documents, strategies and instruments

(5)to provide an opportunity for developing first ideas on strategies to increase the political importance of development cooperation policy in the new member states in order to prevent the weakening of this field on Union level due to low interest and priorities given to it by the governments and parliaments of the new member states.

The contributions to this workshop and the results of the discussions are now published and distributed as a further tool for the information and integration of the new member states in the European Development Cooperation Policy.